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EMERGING
Following the School Board’s
selection, five organizations agreed
to make a significant, long-term
commitment and chose to adopt
the University of Central Florida
Community Partnership School™
model. Formed as a Cabinet, Polk
County Public Schools, Southeastern
University, Central Florida Health Care,
Heartland for Children and United
Way of Central Florida have each made
a 25 year commitment to share in
the governance, development, and
implementation of services at the
school.
ABOVE: A Forum on Community Partnership Schools™ was held in September
2017 by the Lakeland Chamber of Commerce and hosted by Polk State
College at the Lakeland Campus. John Small, then Co-Chair of the Polk Vision
Exploring Community Schools Team, provided the School District update.
A Community Partnership
School EMERGES
TM
Community Schools are characterized
by extended services, extended hours
and extended relationships that serve
not only the students, their families
and the teachers, but the community
at large. Key program components
include after-school and summer
enrichment, parent involvement,
adult education, financial education, a
full-service health clinic with medical,
dental and mental health services.
The implementation of a Community
Partnership School takes a great deal
of thought, planning and commitment
to achieve sustainable, long-term
success. The Children’s Aid Society of
New York has identified four Stages of
Development in a Community School:
Exploring, Emerging, Maturing and
Excelling. (University of Central Florida,
College of Health and Public Affairs)
EXPLORING
In the Fall of 2016, recognizing
widespread interest among leaders
across the community, Polk County
Public Schools Superintendent, Jackie
Byrd, requested that Polk Vision
facilitate the collaborative research
necessary to evaluate the potential
success of transitioning an existing
public school to a community school.
Polk Vision assembled an Exploring
Community Schools Team and
over a nine-month period a
meticulous process was followed
to determine which of the 73 Polk
County elementary schools had
the best chance for success as a
community school. The Team’s work
encompassed factors such as school
grades, transportation numbers, free &
reduced lunch rates, teacher retention
rates, suspensions, expulsions
and feeder patterns as well as the
locations, building capacity, sidewalks,
parking, public transportation, and the
potential for expansion.
During a July 2017 work session, the
Team submitted its findings to the
Polk County School Board and Crystal
Lake Elementary was chosen by the
Board as the pilot location for the first
Community School in Polk County.
Over the past year, a top priority for
Cabinet members was securing the
financial support necessary to begin
transforming Crystal Lake Elementary
to a Community Partnership School™.
While considerable investment was
provided by the Cabinet, additional
funding was needed to hire essential
staff positions including a Director,
Afterschool Coordinator, Health
Programs Coordinator and Parent
Coordinator. Significant financial
support was secured through United
Way of Central Florida who also
assisted in obtaining major funding
from the George Jenkins Family
Foundation and the Clark Family
Foundation.
Crystal Lake Elementary School is
registered with the University of
Central Florida and is seeking to
become a UCF certified Community
Partnership School™. Once a
Community Partnership School™
has registered, the school is eligible
to receive development assistance
and to submit for planning or
implementation grants. UCF currently
is working with 14 Community School
initiatives across the state; each in
different stages of development. To
ensure consistency in the quality of
programming as well as strategy and
framework fidelity, UCF has developed
a process to certify schools that
demonstrate alignment with the UCF
Standards.