For nearly 20 years, the United States Department of Education has helped fund Full-Service Community School programs in “high-poverty” and “high-poverty rural” schools across the nation, while coalitions and existing community partners ensure on-the-ground, local implementation.
A Learning Policy Institute study in December 2017 found that $1 devoted to the program could return up to $15 “in social value and economic benefits” — and it’s reasonable to assume that, in 2025, returns are even greater.
In North Carolina, the FSCS model designed and proposed by NC Community Schools Coalition invites external partners and implements afterschool activities, a community school plan, a school advisory board and a family resource center. Each is facilitated by a full-time community school coordinator and informed by an assessment of the needs and assets within that population…