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YDI-Elev8 ® Full-Service Community School Initiative
Elev8ing Kids, Elev8ing Lives
Elev8® seeks to:
• Remove barriers to learning
• Ensure high school graduation and
beyond
Elev8®’s history
• Founded in 2007 by The Atlantic
Philanthropies
• Located in Baltimore, Chicago, New
Mexico and Oakland
o 16 middle schools, 1 high school
• YDI became Elev8 ® lead agency in 2010.
YDI- Elev8®’s Partners
• ABC Community School
Partnership
• Albuquerque Public Schools
• American Psychiatric Foundation
• Community Dental Services, Inc.
• Corporation for National &
Community Service—NM
• Fidelity Investments
• Lowe’s
• National Council of La Raza
• New Mexico Alliance of SchoolBased Health Care
• NM DOH Office of School and
Adolescent Health
• Presbyterian Medical Services
(PMS)
• Reading Works, Inc.
• School-Based Health Alliance
• Unidos Project
• University of New Mexico
• Watch DOGS (Dads of Great
Students)
• YMCA of Central New Mexico
• Numerous community
supporters who are committed
to family stability
Why Elev8 ®?
• Brings together schools, families and community
partners in low-income areas to ensure that
students succeed in middle school and beyond
• Extends learning beyond the classroom
• Provides high-quality school-based health care
• Encourages parents to be actively involved
• Promotes families’ economic stability, good
health and continuing education.
YDI-Elev8 ®’s Hallmark: Family Engagement
• Family Resource Centers serve as “caring hubs”
where trained community engagement
coordinators cultivate students, parent and
family relationships, develop partnerships
• ABC Homework Diner ® literacy nights support
student and family learning
• AmeriCorps VISTAs bolster parent and family
engagement
YDI-Elev8® Aligns with 2013 New Mexico’s
Community Schools Act
• Focused on organizing community resources to
ensure student success while addressing students’
whole needs, partnering to improve the
coordination, delivery, effectiveness and efficiency of
services to children and families and coordinating
resources to align and leverage community resources
and integrate funding streams
• School-based or linked health a key component.
SBHCs are entry points for full-service
community schools
SBHCs provide onsite
primary, preventive and
behavioral health services
to students while:
• reducing lost school time
• removing barriers to care
• promoting family
involvement
• advancing health and
educational success.
How SBHC and Community School Goals Align
From Coalition for Community
Schools
Academic Indicators Related to Health
• Early Chronic
Absenteeism
• Tardiness
• Safety
• School discipline
referrals
Healthy Students Make Better Learners
 Poor health has a direct and negative impact
on student success
 Health and education are inexorably linked
 SBHCs decrease school absences
 SBHCs keep kids in their seats.
From 2010 NASBHC Presentation by Coalition for Community Schools, Institute for Educational Leadership
How SBHCs Support Learning
1. Support the school
2. Respond to the community
3. Focus on the student
4. Deliver comprehensive care
5. Advance health promotion activities
6. Implement effective systems
7. Provide leadership in adolescent and
child health
From 2010 NASBHC Presentation by Coalition for Community Schools, Institute for Educational Leadership
Is Your School Ready to be a Full-Service
Community School?
• If answer is “Yes”: The need
exists to organize fragmented
services, permit scare dollars to
generate greater impact
• If answer is “Yes”: Parents,
families and school staff want to
engage in effective collaboration
to meet local needs
• If answer is “Yes”: The school
partners with various community
groups, like the United Way, to
create favorable conditions for
learning
• If answer is “Yes”: Funding
streams exist in the district or
through community partnerships
to support a site coordinator
• If answer is “Yes”: The school
shares accountability for results.
Exercise: Take the Coalition for
Community Schools “Indicators of
Capacity” assessment
http://www.communityschools.org/assets/1/AssetManager/I
ndicators%20of%20Capacity%20%20Results%20Framework.pdf
Is Your SBHC Ready?
• If answer is “Yes”: The SBHC
has a healthy working
relationship with the school
and school community based
on shared goals
• If answer is “Yes”: The SBHC
is effective in targeting health
needs that affect students’
participation and success
• If answer is “Yes”: The SBHC
is valued by the school.
One reason YDI-Elev8
supports SBHCs: High
schools with SBHCs
could see a 5%
improvement in
graduation rates!
Attracting support for a full-service community
school
Expand your circle
Develop succinct rationale
• Engage school leaders
• Reach out to families
• Identify colleagues whose
community standing and
resources can strengthen your
collaborative work
• Scope out stakeholders: How
does a community school align
with existing work?
• Think regionally
• Meet regularly
• Highlight ongoing work at school
using experiences, voices of
principals, teachers, community
partners, students and families
• Spotlight the advantages:
What’s in it for us?
• Emphasize that a full-service
community school initiative is
compatible with school’s core
mission and values
Importance of Community School Site Coordinator
• Works with a lead agency
• Jointly plans with school staff
• Ensures parents and families
have an active role, voice in
their children’s education
• Mobilizes partners
• Coordinates resources, ensures
responsiveness of community
resources to students’ and
families’ documented needs
• Manages site-level
programming
• Helps parents improve their
lives
YDI-Elev8 ®’s community engagement coordinator at
Albuquerque’s Wilson Middle School, far right, is pictured
with members of the school’s School Health Advisory
Council (SHAC)
Financing a Full-Service Community School
From Coalition for Community Schools: http://www.communityschools.org/assets/1/AssetManager/finance-paper.pdf
What Funding Supports Your School?
Exercise: Worksheet available at
http://www.communityschools.org/assets/1/AssetManager/finance-paper.pdf,
page 38
For more information on community schools:
Jacob Sanchez, YDI-Elev8 Associate Director
jsanchez@ydinm.org, 505-331-8956
Ruth Williams, YDI-Elev8 Public Policy Director
rwilliams@ydinm.org, 505-577-6798
Coalition for Community Schools
ccs@iel.org, 202-822-8405 ext. 111
ABC Community School Partnership
jamunoz@bernco.gov, 505-468-1668
Communities in Schools
jbergen@cisnm.org, 505-954-1880