This document summarizes a meeting about community-based partnerships to support high school graduation. It discusses the importance of partnerships to provide wraparound student supports. Examples of partnership models from several High School Graduation Initiative sites are provided, including partnerships with local municipalities, juvenile justice, higher education, and workforce agencies. Barriers to successful partnerships include lack of clear communication and defined roles. Effective partnerships require leadership, trust between partners, and a student-centered orientation.

1. COMMUNITY BASED PARTNERSHIPS
OCTOBER 26, 2015

2. WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS
Paul Smith, Facilitator

3. Today’s Schedule
3:30 Welcome & Overview – The state of your partnerships?
3:40 HSGI Background/context
Exploration of Partnership Support Strategies
Highlighting HSGI Sites with Exemplary Practices
4:00 Discussion of action steps and barrieers to success
4:20 Emerging Lessons from the Field
4:25 Questions/Discussions/Evals
4:30 Ajourn

4. WHAT IS A PARTNER?
AND WHY ARE THEY CRITICAL?

5. GOAL OF
SCHOOL & COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS
Address the gaps in school-based supports for students by
providing a variety of services and resources.
Wrap Around Services for health & social
needs
Enhanced school staffing
High quality learning programs & facilities
Resources/programs to improve teaching
& curriculum
After-school, evening, and summer
programs

6. SO… IS THERE ONE SOLUTION?

7. GRADUATION:
A SHARED
RESPONSIBILITY
▪ Individuals with a high school diploma earn
on average $7,840 more per year than
dropouts.
▪ They earn $350,000 more over the course
of their working careers.
▪ Someone with a high school diploma earns
62% of a college graduate’s earnings.
▪ If the dropouts from the class of 2011
graduated, the nation’s economy would
benefit from nearly $154 billion in
additional income over their lifetimes.
5.5 million youth aged 16-21
are neither working or
engaged in school.

8. SESSION PRIMER
▪ Consider the state of your partnerships – overall status?
▪ Examine categories of partnerships and assess progress;
▪ 3 categories: A) strong B) needs attention C) big challenges

9. Since 2010,
29 HSGI grantees
have worked with partners to
strengthen secondary education
and keep more young people
on the path to graduation and
beyond.

10. 29 HSGI SITES

11. KEY HSGI PARTNERSHIP FACTS…
▪ HSGI required applicants to partner with agencies and
CBOs.
▪ ED made Partnerships an “absolute priority” for HSGI
grantees to address non-academic root causes of drop-outs.
▪ Health, poverty, family instability.
▪ States/districts improving graduation rates identified
“multi-sector collaboration” as key to schools having the
resources & conditions necessary to meet graduation
challenge.

12. HSGI PROJECT ACTIVITIES
▪ Early identification of students at-risk of not graduating
▪ Service provision designed to keep at-risk students in school
▪ Identification and outreach to out-of-school youth
▪ Comprehensive site-based approaches
▪ Transition programs from middle to high schools
Sites identified partnerships as essential elements
for the success for these initiatives.

13. NEARLY 200 DIFFERENT PARTNERS
20
13
9 9 9
7 7
0
5
10
15
20
25
General Non-
Profit
Government
Offices
Juvenile Justice Community
College
Local University Mental Health Workforce
Development
NumberofGrantees

14. LOCAL MUNICIPAL SUPPORTS
▪ Departments of Health,
Social Services & others
▪ Mayors’ offices
▪ Civic leaders
▪ Community awareness
▪ Programming opportunities
▪ Funding
At nearly 25% of HSGI sites, the partnership with local municipalities
served as an essential foundation for their initiative.

15. WASHOE COUNTY, NEVADA
Re-Engagement Centers & Innovations HS
Public & private sectors
collaboration
Dept. of Juvenile
Services
Dept. of Human
Services
City of Reno
Non-Profit
Children’s Cabinet

16. “Real Skin in the Game”
16
System alignment between LAUSD, Mayor’s office and city
agencies - Priority to serve out of school youth
Additional resource - DOL Workforce Innovation Fund
LA Unified School District Co-Investment to place counselors in each
YouthSource Center (PSA Counselors)
2012 launch of WIA dropout recovery system
LOS ANGELES UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
THE DIPLOMA PROJECT

17. STUDENT SUPPORTS
“A Mix of Hard Work with Heart Work”
Most HSGI sites developed safety net partnerships:
Wrap-Around
Social-Emotional
Mental Health
Through local municipalities or non-profit CBOs.
HSGI sites identified a clear need
to provide stability for fragile youth.

18. PORTLAND, OREGON
Portland Public Schools
Mt. Scott Learning
Center
Camp Fire
Skill
Development
Social
Supports
Credit
Recovery
Strategically combining academic
and social/emotional supports
through partnerships.

19. ACADEMIC SUPPORTS
▪Tutoring
▪Credit Recovery
▪Blend of Academic & Social Supports
▪Attendance Support
▪Re-Engagement

20. PALM BEACH COUNTY
Palm
Beach
Schools
Workforce
Alliance
WIB
Palm
Beach
State
College
Career
Navigators
in HSGI
High
Schools
▪ Re-engaging disconnected & off-track youth
▪ Mentoring & motivation
▪ Guidance toward post-secondary education &
training
▪ Work-readiness curriculum
▪ Link between high school courses to
skills & training
▪ Focus on the needs of Palm Beach employers
▪ Post-graduation follow-up

21. HIGHER EDUCATION PARTNERSHIPS
Many HSGI sites have partnerships with community colleges &
universities as a powerful strategy for reengaging and
motivating disconnected youth.
Dual credit
Accelerating learning
Credit recovery
Career certifications
Transition counseling
Professional development for staff

22. SALEM-KEIZER PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Salem-Keizer’s Early College High School co-
located at Chemeketa Community College. • Graduation Coaches
• Mentoring
• College/career
guidance
• Dual credit options
• Teen Parent supports
• On-site childcare

23. JUVENILE JUSTICE PARTNERSHIPS
▪ Probation departments
▪ Violence prevention coalitions
▪ District courts
▪ Juvenile assessment centers
▪ Law enforcement agencies
 Student supports
 Mentoring
 Outreach
 Assessments
 Counseling
 Referrals
 Parent/Family Supports
 School Staff Supports
 Professional Development
 Technical Assistance
 Safety planning
 Funding
While less than 10% of HSGI sites formally
collaborated with Juvenile Justice, many
others report ongoing informal relationships.

24. ST. CLAIR COUNTY SCHOOLS
Stay in School (SIS) Program
▪ Probation officers in the schools
▪ Suspended students earning credits
▪ Safe environment
▪ Certified teachers
▪ Chief of Juvenile Justice key member of
SIS Steering Committee
“The presence of law enforcement as a partner and normal part of
the fabric of the school community has helped bridge
the perceived disconnect between youth and police.”

25. FINANCIAL PARTNERS
▪ Scholarships to higher education
▪ Funding for programs, staffing, PD
▪ Building capital
▪ Books, newspapers, supplies
▪ Incentives
▪ Afterschool & summer programming
▪ Fundraising support

26. Jones County
Schools
Juvenile
Justice
Health
Services
Surrounding
School Districts
Family
Services
Counseling
Organizations
COLLECTIVE ACTION
JONES COUNTY, GEORGIA
Local Inter-Agency
Planning Team
▪ Struggling Students
▪ Service Providers
▪ Regular collaboration
meetings

27. CAREER PATHWAYS
▪ Engages, motivates, & provides relevancy
▪ Context for learning that is interesting to the student
▪ Connects challenging academics to demanding career and
technical education
▪ Preparation for post-secondary success
.
Positions students to pursue a full
range of postsecondary opportunities,
including college degree and certificate
programs, formal employment training,
apprenticeship, or military service.

28. CHICAGO PUBIC SCHOOLS
▪ Blue 1647

29. EXAMINE YOUR STATUS
▪ In your assigned category, please compare notes on your B’s and C’s
▪ What are barriers to success?
▪ What are some possible solutions?
▪ Advice for others?

30. KEY MESSAGES FROM HSGI SITES
Seek
Understanding
Leadership Matters
Partnerships
Evolve

31. CONDITIONS FOR EFFECTIVE PARTNERSHIPS
Effective
Leadership
Teams
External
Support
Principal
Leadership
Student-
Centered
Orientation

32. EMERGING LESSONS FROM THE FIELD
▪ To “hit the ground running,” partners need:
▪ A good understanding of the district and the students;
▪ To be embedded in the community; and
▪ A longstanding relationship with the district, if possible.
▪ Trust, commitment and willingness to share are essential.
▪ Passion about this work and youth is the driver.
▪ Finding the fine line between management and
micro-management needs ongoing attention.

33. EMERGING LESSONS FROM THE FIELD
▪ Consistent communication and clear expectations among all
form the basis of a healthy, productive working relationship
among partners.
▪ Partners must identify, share and meet their own
organizational interests, as well as the collective
interests of the group. No one partner can
dominate or meet its interests to the detriment
of another partner or the group goal for the
community’s youth.

34. RESOURCES
▪ School-Community Partnerships: A Guide. UCLA Center for Mental Health in
Schools, 2006.
▪ Sustaining School and Community Efforts to Enhance Outcomes for Children
and Youth. UCLA Center for Mental Health in Schools, 2008.
▪ School-Community Partnerships Benefit All. Lonsdale, 2011.
▪ The Role of School and Community-Based Programs in Aiding Latina/o High
School Persistence. Harris & Kiyama, 2015.
▪ Building Strong Community Partnerships: Equal Voice and Mutual Benefits.
Journal of Latinos and Education v13, n2. De La Garza, Kuri, & Lissette, 2014.
▪ Achieving Results Through Community School Partnerships: How District and
Community Leaders Are Building Effective, Sustainable Relationships. Martin
J. Blank, Reuben Jacobson, & Atelia Melaville, 2012.

35. CONTACT INFO-
PBS1207@GMAIL.COM
410-206-0394
WWW.PAULSMITHCONSULTING.ORG

36. THANK YOU!