Community School Model Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Community School Model - Essay Example It involves the integration between community development, social and health services, family support, youth development, and academics. These schools’ organization is based on aiding students in learning, strengthening communities and families and succeeding. They also act as community centres for the provision of services catering for student learners and erection of bridges connecting communities, families, and schools. Not only do these schools provide an environment for the promotion of academic excellence, but they also provide services in mental health, physical health, and social services within the campus. As a result, the schools emerge as community hubs, which act as one-stop places for the provision of diverse needs that help the child achieve the best outcome possible. This paper seeks to describe the Full Service Community Schools and discuss its suitability for post-secondary settings. There are assumptions that schools are only meant for the service of deliveri ng academic skills and that the most effective way of developing a young person into capable and competent adult is by academic methods. However, it is also important to develop the youth emotionally and socially into capable and competent adults who are ready to be integrated into the workforce and be functional informed citizens (Cummings, 2011). The main ideal behind full service schools is that youths are best served when all concerned adults are brought together centrally. This facilitates the collaboration and communication of these select adults to cater for the youth’s needs in the development. The FSCS model has its basis in youth development research, after-school fields, and education. FSCSs are schools that have social service, wellness, behavioural health, enrichment, and academic components (Cummings, 2011). They open way past the regular school hours and their target markets for services and programs include community members, families, and parents. The model c an be implemented with the help of a partnership with local non-profit organizations. Through this, the school becomes a local hub for growth of relationships between organizations dealing with youth development, volunteers, students, families, and local businesses. Of special importance are the after-school enrichment and academic programs (Cummings, 2011). Participation in after-school programs develop youths positively by bettering school attendance, improving schoolwork attitudes, higher college aspirations, improved work habits and interpersonal skills, reduction in rates of dropout, and improved grades. Youths spend most of their time in school buildings and thus everything the student needs should be provided, at least in part, by the school (Dryfoos & Maguire, 2007). It allows parents the freedom not to re-arrange work schedules to care for the child, like taking them to a dentist, since these professionals are made available to the school. Family or individual health servic es for mental health are made available in the school. Most FSCS schools have a parent or family rooms where guardians or parents can talk freely and informally. In these classes, information on the insurance application, enrolment in classes for parent education, and participation in other adult enrichment activities is availed to the parents. Full Service Community Schools are built and designed on five conditions identified by the coalition for community schools aimed at creating an environment for