Community Schools Implementation Grants Awarded to 22 Local Educational Agencies

Twenty-two districts and charter schools in San Diego County were recently awarded community schools implementation grants by the California Department of Education.

These 22 local educational agencies (LEAs) were among the nearly 300 LEAs in the state awarded a total of $1.3 billion as part of the next cohort of the California Community Schools Partnership Program, representing the largest single investment in community schools anywhere in the nation.

“Transformational teaching and learning in community schools is part of our strategy to reduce poverty and increase belongingness through public education, and we’re proud to have 22 more LEAs engaging in this important work,” said Dr. Paul Gothold, San Diego County superintendent of schools. “Community schools open windows of opportunity for everyone in the community to participate in supporting the well-being of our children.”

With the addition of the third cohort of implementation grantees, there are now 142 school sites across 36 LEAs implementing the community schools strategy in San Diego County. The San Diego County Office of Education (SDCOE) is the lead agency for the Southern Coast Regional Technical Assistance Center (R-TAC), which partners with the Orange County Department of Education and Imperial County Office of Education to support districts and schools in building capacity and implementing the community schools strategy. Any school can be a community school and sites do not need to be state grantees to receive support from the R-TAC.

Cohort 3 implementation grantees include:

• Borrego Springs Unified
• Chula Vista Elementary School District
• e3 Civic High
• EJE Elementary Academy Charter
• Empower Language Academy
• Escondido Union
• Fallbrook Union Elementary
• Health Sciences High and Middle College
• Howard Gardner Community Charter
• Iftin Charter
• King-Chavez Academy of Excellence
• King-Chavez Community High
• KIPP Adelante Preparatory Academy
• La Mesa-Spring Valley
• Lemon Grove School District
• MAAC Community Charter
• Mountain Empire Unified School District
• Mueller Charter (Robert L.)
• San Diego Unified School District
• San Ysidro Elementary
• SIATech
• Valley Center-Pauma Unified

Community schools partner with education, county, and other nonprofit entities to provide integrated services in supportive instructional environments that strongly focus on community, family, and student engagement. To learn more, visit sdcoe.net/CommunitySchools. Organizations with programs, services, or resources that support thriving students, families, and communities are invited to express interest in partnering with SDCOE, local districts, and charter schools.