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Establishing and developing ties to the community and culture can help innovative schools foster environments centered on inclusiveness, innovation, and productive relationships. Creating explicit and implicit practices, norms, rules, and ways of working across students, staff, families, and communities at large can support this complex work.

Below, find strategies and resources for:

  • Student Culture
  • Staff Culture
  • Systems Building
  • Parent Engagement
  • Community Engagement
Student Culture
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Community Engagement

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Photo of group of students working on laptops at classroom table

Lindsay High School

Lindsay Unified's Community Wi-Fi

Establishing community-wide Wi-Fi to enable 24/7 access for all Learners
image of Leveraging-Community-Partnerships-To-Build-a-City-Wide-Plan.png

Meriden Public Schools

Leveraging Community Partnerships To Build a City-Wide Plan

District and city partnership to create outdoor in-person learning spaces
Teacher sits with student at desk, looking down at work, overlaid by purple gradient text and a logo for the Foundation for Excellence in Education

Advice: Communicating about Competency-Based Learning

A state policy messaging toolkit
People sitting in a row, writing in notebooks

Activity: Reflect on Equity in Your Solution

Take time to step back and ensure that your proposed solution is an equitable one
Several small white icons centered around one white circular icon showing three people with a lightbulb above their heads

Advice: Community Collaboration for School Innovation

A community engagement toolkit
An man and his daughter looking at a tablet computer.

Accessing Student Data as a Family or Community Member for Advocacy

How family or community members can use student data for equitable advocacy
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Meriden Public Schools

Offering College-Credit Bearing Opportunities

Partnering with universities to provide college credit courses in high school
A woman sitting at a table in front of a group of parents and students

Gill-Montague Regional School District

Engaging Spanish-Speaking Families to Strengthen Edtech Implementation

Partnering with family liaisons to increase engagement and use of family-facing edtech tools
Map of icons linked together with arrows, conveying a network of ideas in education

Guide: Communications Planning for Innovation in Education

A how-to guide with real-world district examples and tools
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School District of Cudahy

High-Frequency Communications with Staff

Take a proactive approach and establish multiple communication channels
One person leads a discussion, holding paper in his hand and gesturing toward it with a pen while others look on

Activity: Reflect on Equity in Your Pilot

Take time to step back and ensure that your solution has the desired impact
image of Re-Thinking-Spaces-and-Opportunities-for-Learning-Especially-the-Arts.png

Meriden Public Schools

Rethinking Spaces and Opportunities for Learning, Especially the Arts

Creatively using community spaces for safe, outdoor learning
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Meriden Public Schools

Building Multilingual Systems of Support and Engagement for Parents/Guardians

Providing multilingual support to engage parents/guardians in their child’s remote learning experience
Teacher stands in front of classroom, pointing to paper in his hand as students look on

Lovett Elementary School

Lovett’s Approach to Communications

Communications needs and goals evolved along with instruction
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Metro Nashville Public Schools

High-Dosage Tutoring

Utilizing community partnerships to provide one-on-one tutoring to students
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Colorado Springs School District 11

"Listening Sessions" for Building Trust and Open Communication

A monthly community forum hosted by central office staff on Facebook Live
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Ector Country Independent School District

County-Wide Response Meetings

Building a network of leaders county-wide to share information and coordinate
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Activity: Conduct Empathy Interviews with Stakeholders

Seek to understand the experiences of people in your district through personal interviews
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Leveraging Community Engagement to Solve Complex Problems

Step-by-step guidance to engaging the community in support of K-12 transformation
Close-up on a handshake

Trailblazer Elementary School

Trailblazer Communications Plan

Creating Transparency and "Seeing is Believing" Tours
image of Community-Cares-Program.png

Monterey Peninsula Unified School District

Community Cares Program

Building deep partnership to ensure students experiencing homelessness have a place to learn during virtual school days
image of Building-a-Partnership-with-Local-Community-College-To-Increase-Access-to-Learning-Opportunities.png

Meriden Public Schools

Building a Partnership with Local Community College To Increase Access to Learning Opportunities

Exchanging classroom space for college courses
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Mendon-Upton Regional School District

Community Partnerships for Career-Oriented Learning Work

Project-based learning with future careers in mind
image of Leveraging-Local-Media-to-Communicate-with-Multilingual-Families.png

Ector Country Independent School District

Leveraging Local Media to Communicate with Multilingual Families

Reaching all families by sending messages through diverse channels
image of MakingSenseEmpathy.png

Activity: Making Sense of Empathy Interviews

Tell stories and find themes from empathy interviews
Teacher and four students look over project that shows a small 3-D model of a city

Engaging the Community to Build Future Momentum

“Our aim was to create a real conversation between parents and schools.” (Karen Perry)
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Meriden Public Schools

ParentSquare for Two-Way Communication

A tool for two-way parent/guardian and school communication
A woman and a girl sitting at a table with a laptop

Hilltown Cooperative Charter Public School

Gathering Family Feedback on Edtech Usage

Strengthening the home-school connection through awareness, accessibility, and technical training around edtech tools
Educator presenting on stage in front of blue background, gesturing to crowd

Advice: Targeted Messaging

How to develop key messages for stakeholders around blended and personalized learning
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Meriden Public Schools

Ongoing District and Union Partnership Meetings

Monthly meetings between district leaders and teacher and administrator union representatives
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Meriden Public Schools

Forging Partnership with Neighboring District To Share Resources

Partnering with a neighboring school district to share resources
Meeting of people convenes at large conference table, people talking amongst each other

Activity: Reflect on Equity in Your Process

Take time to step back and reflect on how equitable your design process has been