Designing Community Partnerships to Expand Student Learning: A Toolki | Page 8

THE 5 C'S OF SUCCESSFUL SCHOOL-COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS
ADAPTED FROM THE NCTL COMMUNITY PARTNER RUBRIC
Common Purpose

The partnership supports a shared set of goals,
established by both participants and aligned with
both partners’ mission and vision.
• The community partner understands the
school’s vision for expanding learning time,
including its schoolwide instructional focus.
• The partnership supports a set of desired
outcomes for students that is articulated,
documented, and shared among partners.
• The school understands the expertise and
strengths of each community partner.
• School and partners have a system in place
to determine whether the desired outcomes
have been met.

Complementary Content

The school seeks out community partners with
expertise that complements teachers and staff,
establishing partnerships that bring outcomedriven programs, resources, and services to the
school that correspond with its goals for expanded
learning time.
• Community partners meet an unmet need at
the school, providing a service, program, or
resource that the school can’t provide.
• Community partners collaborate with
teachers and school staff to align enrichment
curriculum with that of core classroom
content.
• Programming aligns with the state curriculum
standards and schoolwide achievement goals.

Communication

8

Clear, consistent communication occurs on two
levels: between the leader of the school an BF