Greetings!

With Coordinators Appreciation Week officially wrapping tomorrow, we'd like to say THANK YOU! Together, we are showing the world how #CoordinatorsRock.

We'll follow up next week with more highlights, but here are a few spotlights and wins we wanted to lift up as you head into your weekend:

A Congressional Coordinator Appreciation Week Resolution was introduced by U.S. Representative Judy Chu (CA-28) and U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (MD), recognizing this official celebration of Community School Coordinators and noting that they are "essential to building successful community schools and creating, strengthening, and maintaining partnerships between community schools and their communities."

Representative Chu and a staffer from Senator Van Hollen's office, who have both championed Community Schools for years, also joined us at our Coordinators Appreciation Week Hill Day! They shared how storytelling about Community Schools supports the broader strategy and continues to be important for students and families across the country.

Many of you shared social media shoutouts, awards, and other important recognitions for Coordinators! According to our analysis, through our combined efforts we reached over 950K people with posts that conveyed "love" and "joy."

It was truly powerful to see the diverse snapshots of hardworking people in this role from across many school community contexts:

Above: The Alain Locke School posts about their Coordinator Jared Beck's whose expertise is rooted in building equitable youth systems across Philadelphia. Jared has been leading seed-to-table food ecosystem at Locke that puts students at the center of experiential learning. He is also working with community partner organizations to create (17!) new curriculum-supported school clubs.

We loved this video from ABC Community School Partnership showcasing a clever montage of Coordinators giving a glimpse into their daily roles.

Many of our national partners in this work shared stories and resources about the impact of Coordinators and Community Schools. For example, our friends at the Learning Policy Institute released a new brief, Community Schools Impact on Student Outcomes: Evidence From California, highlighting the impacts of California’s statewide Community Schools initiative, The California Community Schools Partnership Program. After the first full year of implementation, participating schools saw an average 30% drop in chronic absenteeism, 15% fewer suspensions, and improvements in test scores! The impacts were greatest for Black students, English learners, and students from low-income backgrounds.

We also hosted our first Coordinators Network meeting of the new school year, where members were celebrated and shared some meaningful moments they were proud of from the past and current school year. Check out a few of them below:

• "getting the before and after school program off the ground by the second week of school and rolling out after-school clubs by the end of the month"
• "creating sustainable systems and spaces for students to feel safe and like they belong"
• "approaching student interactions believing the students and listening to what they are feeling"
• "creating a food pantry for my students and families"
• "higher percentage of Multilingual families getting involved"
• "80 grands signed up for Grandparents day and over 50 came!"
• "partnered with [a local organization] to share 2,700 watermelons with families in our community (elementary, middle, and high school school) at our back-to-school event!"
• "we gave out 400 backpacks to our students with school supplies!"
• "applied for 5 grants, received 4 out of the 5 - a total of $35K and received 120 backpacks filled with supplies plus additional school supplies to stock [our] Family Pantry for parents to shop for their students"
• "served 175 students from our Community School this summer, we were able to sponsor 15 5th graders to go to the Grand Canyon this summer"
• "we distributed 4,000 lbs of food last week, including fresh produce"
• created a school sing-along album as well as a school music video about brushing your teeth.

Other Stories:

• Community Schools impact across the country is now inspiring movement in some parts of Oklahoma - in Oklahoma City, OK, Santa Fe South Schools Superintendent Chris Brewster "became interested in the community schools strategy while thinking about durable school reforms. It has a presence across the nation as an evidence-based method to promote equity and educational excellence, and strengthen families and communities."
  
• The Afterschool Alliance posted a blog post highlighting the synergy between Community Schools and afterschool programs: Stronger together: Afterschool programs and Community Schools

Upcoming Opportunities for Coordinators

• September 15th - October 15th is #HispanicHeritageMonth! From the Smithsonian: "Hispanic Heritage Month is a month-long celebration of Hispanic and Latino history and culture. While we celebrate Hispanic and Latino communities beyond this month, from September 15 to October 15 we give extra recognition to the many contributions made to the history and culture of the United States, including important advocacy work, vibrant art, popular and traditional foods, and much more." Get resources here.

• September 24 at 12pm PT / 3 ET: Family Engagement is the Foundation for Attendance and Learning - 🏫 Family engagement matters for attendance and learning. Join us with Attendance Works to explore strategies to involve families, strengthen partnerships, and improve student attendance. Register here.

• September 25 at 2pm ET - Navigating Shifting Policies: Equipping Schools and Communities to Support Immigrant and Refugee Youth and Families - Join our upcoming webinar in partnership with Seek Common Ground's Immigration is American Collaboration Network, for a foundational understanding of current immigration policy trends and their impact on students and families. Participants will hear from local leaders and practitioners who are actively supporting immigrant and refugee youth and families in their communities and schools.

• September 30 at 2pm ET: Using Data For Impact and Sustainability: Deep Dive for Data Driven Decisions - Join IEL's Vice President of Strategic Partnership & Community Engagement Donnie Hale and Clear Impact's Senior Consultant and Education Lead Dan Duncan, for an intensive webinar on Results Based Accountability and best data practices on selecting, gathering, reporting, and analyzing data to best tell your organization’s story!

• October 14 & 21, 2025, 6-9 PM EST: Join educators nationwide to strengthen care, safety, and belonging in your school community! Sign up now for our two-day virtual institute and six-month community of practice, where you’ll gain tools, knowledge, and connections to strengthen your school community, especially for immigrant and refugee students and families.

• Application due November 30, 2025: Just Announced! Now Enrolling for Spring 2026 Education Policy Fellowship Program™ (EPFP) - EPFP is IEL’s longest-standing program, with over half a century of experience and expertise focused on developing #policy, advocacy, and coalition-building capacities to drive educational change. This in-depth, 7-week online program will teach you how to engage in root cause analysis to determine policy solutions, design a dynamic, bipartisan policy advocacy strategy, and be ready to engage your community to make the changes you want to see in your school, district, or state. Learn more about this 7-week virtual program here.

Learn more about our Community Schools Networks by visiting our website.