California Educator

June/July 2022

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Community schools help foster: • Lower rates of absenteeism • Better work habits, grades, test scores and behaviors • Higher enrollment in college preparatory classes • Higher graduation rates Watch CTA's video for details on community schools' benefits at tinyurl.com/ communityschools-benefits. The California Community Schools Partnership Program (CCSPP) supports schools' e•orts to partner with community agencies and local gov- ernment to align community resources to improve student outcomes. These partnerships provide an integrated focus on academics, health and social services, youth and community development, and community engagement. The State Board of Education in May approved more than $38 million in community schools planning grants to 193 local educational agencies (LEAs), with most receiving $200,000. Central Unified School District and Chula Vista Elementary School District are among many districts with CTA-a•iliated local associations that won planning grants. Nearly $600 million in community schools implementation grants were also awarded to 71 LEAs. Among many school districts with CTA locals, Oceanside Unified School District will receive $8.3 million and San Francisco Unified will get $33.7 million, while Oakland Unified will receive the largest grant in this funding cycle at $66.7 million. Alameda County O•ice of Education was also selected as the contractor for the CCSPP Lead Technical Assistance Center. For a full list of grantees, visit: tinyurl.com/CommSchoolsplanning (planning grants) and tinyurl.com/CommSchoolsimplementation (implementation grants). —Julian Peeples Benefits of Community Schools State Awards Community Schools Grants T H I S S T O R Y I S part of our ongoing coverage of community schools. See cta.org/communityschools for background and information, and cta.org/ communityschools-building-heart-hub for a broad look at educators' work around the state. forward, Mar tinez says they decided to do it together. They selected a school, Teague Elementar y, to desig- nate as a communit y school, meeting with the staff and school communit y to build the team necessar y for suc- cess. CUTA received a $75,000 Safe and Just Schools grant from NEA . Mar tinez says that when educators met with the Teague community for the first time, they learned of needs that included a food pantr y and a bus to transpor t school families without vehicles to impor tant appoint- ments and tutoring ser vices. " This is about empowering our families and letting them know we want the same thing for their children," Mar tinez says. " The teachers were ver y emotional because they 're so excited." Mar tinez says the district is submitting a grant pro- posal for fur ther community schools work . She says they already have eyes on a second and third school in the district , perhaps a middle school that Teague feeds into and then a high school. Mar tinez says she is grateful for community schools training from NEA as well as con- stant suppor t from CTA along their journey. "It makes me proud to be a par t of CTA and NEA ," she says. " We have always said we will do what 's best for kids. They are our future, and community schools are the future of education." 29 J U N E / J U L Y 2 0 2 2

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