The Children’s Aid Society Community Schools: Research-Based, Results-Oriented

Abstract

The Children’s Aid Society of New York City arguably is the worldwide leader in the development and advancement of community schools. Today their leaders provide technical assistance and capacity-building supports to colleagues in many nations, and they merit the lion’s share of the credit for the growing popularity of community school models. Instead of resting on their laurels, these visionary leaders have continued to pioneer important innovations at the same time that their local work in New York City has continued. This chapter provides important details, including commitment to and programs for early childhood education; special arrangements for place-based designs with shared decision-making opportunities for local residents, especially parents; new imperatives for getting young people ready for postsecondary education and careers; and a more expansive conceptual and operational framework for twenty-first century community schools – which they call Community Schools 2.0. The authors conclude with an overview of the work that lies ahead as they move the community school idea into a more advanced phase, an analysis that reaffirms their international leadership.