Schools must be at center of the community. Here’s how our charter will do that in Stop Six
Frustration and fear. Those are the dominant forces shaping our experience with public education since COVID-19 took hold two years ago.
Finding common ground to forge a path forward feels all but impossible lately. But the challenges we are confronting today are symptoms of a much deeper problem. Great schools are relationship-centered. But in too many schools, those relationships have been allowed to atrophy.
Fundamentally, relationships are about trust. And judging by the steep decline in enrollment in public schools across the nation, including here in Fort Worth, parents are losing trust in their local schools.
To restore it, we need to re-balance power among parents, teachers and students. We need to rebuild relationships by centering our work on our shared purpose — to give every child every opportunity they deserve to make the most of life.
We can do so by embracing a proven strategy in public education: the “community school” model.
A community school, as defined by the Coalition for Community Schools, is one that serves as “the hub of its neighborhood, uniting families, educators and community partners … to promote equity and educational excellence for each and every child, and an approach that strengthens families and community.”
Community schools understand that students can not show up fully in the classroom if their needs outside the classroom are not being met. So, they coordinate with local support programs to address learning needs such as healthcare, food assistance, counseling services, housing assistance, and more. They emphasize authentic family engagement.
To build strong relationships, educators can’t engage families just on school-based terms. They must get out into the community to deeply understand the whole context of a student’s life.
When I was principal of Dunbar High School in Fort Worth, I required every staff member to take an immersive tour of the Stop Six neighborhood. I have deep, proud multigenerational roots in Stop Six, and I knew it was essential that my staff built an authentic connection to the community.
It was important for them to understand the rich cultural capital of our community to create a culturally responsive learning environment. Educators cannot serve their students if they do not first understand the community that their students call home. If we showed up for high-risk kids at their doorsteps, they showed up more at school and were more engaged.
At the time, I didn’t know that an increasing body of evidence showed this model is a proven strategy for equitable school improvement. Simply put, community schools put relationships at the center of their work. And this is the school model we are bringing to Stop Six when we open the first Rocketship Public Schools Texas elementary school on Berry Street in August.
I knew our approach was truly taking root when one of our founding parents, Yolanda Seban, told me: “I know the difference between well-intentioned organizations with prescriptive approaches and those that truly serve the needs of our community by listening to our needs. ... Every neighborhood deserves a Rocketship, a place where parents are given a voice in shaping their child’s educational journey.”
I hope the Rocketship Public School we are launching in Stop Six can be an exemplar for other schools. As a public school, our doors will always be open to anyone who wants to learn from our model to help improve the entire ecosystem of public education in Tarrant County.
By working together, we can use this crisis to transform our public schools into neighborhood hubs. We can rebuild trust and create stronger and more resilient kids and communities by harnessing the power of community schools.
