Community Schools Program
Community schools promote positive, equitable outcomes by providing students and families with the physical and mental health, academic, and extracurricular supports needed to thrive.
Community schools serve as hubs that bring families, communities, and partners together to remove barriers to learning. Using an asset-based approach, community schools strive to strengthen connections to generate improved student outcomes.
Maryland continues to prioritize community schools through the Blueprint for Maryland's Future. This landmark legislation is designed to improve the quality of education for Mayland students and close achievement gaps. Included in this legislation are Concentration of Poverty grants for schools that serve large populations of students experiencing poverty. These grants aim to serve students, families, and the community by establishing community schools.
While all schools provide support to students, community schools work in collaboration with community partners, local governments, and other stakeholders to provide wraparound services that address barriers to learning and success. Community schools leverage the power of neighborhoods through asset-based approaches that strengthen the connections between home, school, and communities and create change for the people that they serve. Through strategic partnerships, community schools work to provide access to high-quality academics, health services, mental health support, academic enrichment, out-of-school time programming, crisis support, adult education classes, leadership development, and more.
There are now over 600 Community Schools in the State of Maryland. Dr. Samuel A. Mudd Elementary School became eligible as the first Charles County Public Schools Community School for the 2021-2022 school year. During the 2022-2023 school year, Indian Head Elementary School joined the program. The program has added three schools to the Charles County Public Schools Community Schools team for the 2023-2024 school year: Dr. Gustavus Brown, Eva Turner, and J.P. Ryon Elementary Schools. MSDE has identified five additional schools to join the Community Schools Program for school year 2024-2025: Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer Elementary School, Benjamin Stoddert Middle School, General Smallwood Middle School, John Hanson Middle School, and Thomas Stone High School.
Community School District Liaison |
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Bethany Goodwin |
- Community School Coordinators
- Concentration of Poverty Grant FAQs
- Stages of Development in a Community School
- Roles and Responsibilities of the Community School Coordinator
- Resources