In effort to connect with the broader community, Rolando Elementary School in September held its first session of monthly community meetings.
The meeting outlined the school’s successes, its future goals, and how tax dollars are being allocated. This is the first community schools meeting of its kind in the district thus far.
Rolando Elementary is one of 13 community schools in the La Mesa Spring Valley School Distirct (LMSVSD), and it receives five years of grant funding from the state through its community schools program.
The purpose of the grant is to provide funds for the school to be a community hub and resource for students and their families. The program focuses on the “whole child” approach to education, which focuses not only on the academic development of students, but also on social, emotional, cognitive development, as well as physical and mental health. Community schools are designed to leverage local resources like social and health services.
There are four pillars of a community school: integrated student support, expanded and enriched learning time, collaborative leadership, and active family and community engagement. More information about each of the pillars can be found here.
Parents, grandparents, and non-profit leaders from the community attended the September meeting.
Rolando’s community schools facilitator, David Weinberg, said at the meeting that the school now has a community room, in which families can access resources such as food and clothing that is available on sight. The community room also allows families to contact local resources.
Weinberg serves as a liaison between students and parents and between anything the community can provide to help them meet their basic needs. The district also has parent education workshops and a computer lab for adults of students to use at La Mesa Dale Elementary.
Weinberg highlighted the effort of parents and students who painted a mural and built a garden space at the school as beautification projects. In the garden, students are able to have classes led by a parent once a month, and they have a goal of adding animals to the garden, as well as family cooking classes.
Principal Ben Klaus also presented at the meeting, sharing CAASPP (California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress) scores, explaining how Title 1 funding is spent, and projections for the rest of the year.
“We just want students to love coming to school and engage in their learning,” Klaus said.
The school has a suggestion box in its front office that can be accessed at any time and they have a Family Engagement Plan that is available for families.
The Community Schools Partnership Program is in its second year, with three years remaining. The goal of the program is to have the established community partnerships and resources, and for the school’s garden to become self-sufficient and maintainable once the grant period ends.