Community School Coordinator
Entry Plan: First 30 to 60 Days
The Community School Coordinator at each site will:
 Understand the community school approach
 Have defined the Community School Coordinator role and major
points of integration with administration and student/family support
personnel
 Be familiar with school structure and culture, and have developed
relationships with key personnel on-site, including administrators,
teachers, support staff, parent groups, and partners
 Have identified needs, strengths, resources, and gaps in student and
family supports
 Established themselves as the point person for developing and
troubleshooting partnerships
 Develop a work plan for the rest of school year
About this Tool
The Community School Coordinator is a
new role, with responsibilities and
priorities that vary from site to site, even
from year to year. This ambiguity makes
entry into a school challenging,
especially at the beginning of a
community school initiative. This is a
sample entry plan for a Community
School Coordinator’s first 30 to 60 days
on the job.
Pre-Work (done by supervisor)
 Meet individually with the school principal/leadership team to map the school in preparation for the Community
School Coordinator’s orientation and entry. Topics may include:
 School priorities, especially those related to student support and partnerships
 Leadership teams and structures
 Coordination and the reporting structure
 Introduction of the Community School Coordinator to the school community
 Abbreviated inventory of partners and services
 Logistical issues (office space, supplies, phone, etc.)
 Develop an orientation packet and communication tools for the Community School Coordinator
Orientation
First week and ongoing professional development, weekly meeting, as a learning community, with all coordinators:
 Community Schools 101, e.g., training, video, speaker, site visit
 Define roles
 Establish expectations, reporting, meeting structures, etc.
 Identify existing points of coordination and clarify roles
 Understand structures and school priorities
 District organization (regions, zones, cohorts, etc.)
 District processes, e.g., funding requests, contracts, provider orientations, etc.
 Site leadership structures, e.g., SSC, SST, SAP
 Individual school site plan, target populations, special projects, history, site inventories
 Community School Rubric
 Needs assessment process and tools
Produced by The Center of Healthy Schools and Communities | School Health Works
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 Review processes and uses, introduce and test tools, refine, etc.
 Introduce management tools, e.g., work plan, tracking templates
School-Based Work
 Meet with the principal to establish a relationship and identify priorities for the year. Discussion topics should
include the Community School Coordinator’s role in leadership and in school committees, introduction to the
school community, scope of work, and communication protocols.
 Introductory meetings – mostly introduced by principal
 Faculty (with introduction by district leadership)
 Grade level teams
 SSC, ELAC, PTA
 Student/family support teams, e.g., COST, school climate, family engagement
 Student groups
 Visit every classroom within the first two weeks
 Informal (observe and get a feel for the school, look for high profile kids, etc. Can help at teacher’s specific
request too)
 Needs assessment
 Needs/priorities and strengths/assets
 Services and integration/coordination
 Identify gaps
 Evidence of success
 Partnership process
 Interviews, focus groups, meetings, surveys
 Analyze and present data to staff and school community
 Spend time with major partners and programs, such as:
 Afterschool
 School health center or wellness center
 Mental health providers
 Family center, parent leaders, family workshops, etc.
 Partner agency directors
Community Entry Work
 Preliminary partner meeting
 Introductory
 Part of needs assessment process
 Community School Advisory Committee
 Draft/revisit MOUs with each partner
 Identify community leaders (religious, political, activists) and meet with them
 Attend community coalition meeting(s) – get feedback about needs, programs, resources
 Get to know neighborhood(s) – walk around the community and other neighborhoods where kids come from,
talk to merchants and CBOs, eat at neighborhood restaurants
 Do home visits with a parent liaison
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Community School Coordinator Entry Plan | School Health Works