Community schools aim to cover ‘every basic need.’ Here’s how they do it in New Mexico – Las Cruces Sun-News

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LAS CRUCES If you've seen one community school, you've seen one community school.

This no-one-size-fits-all mantrais intentional, said David Greenberg,executive director of the National EducationAssociation of New Mexico's Center for Community Schools.

Since eachcommunity's needs are different, so is each community school.

Though each of the80community schools in New Mexico offer different services, their missions arethe same.

Greenberg will say that mission is to"strategically leverage partnerships to be with local businesses and faith-based organizations or nonprofit organizations or different health providers to to meet the vision of the needs that the communities establish."

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What he means is that if a community needs it, you'll find it at a community school, with services available to anyone beyond just when school is in session.

In one town, a community school helped facilitatethe installation of solar panels in homes thatwouldn't otherwise haveaccess toelectricity or running water; in another town, the community school became a food pantry; and in still another town a mom found a job through connections at the community school.

And if a community school doesn't have what you need, a staff member can finda service to help.Once those basic needs are met, the community can thrive, community school advocates say.

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"Some people need help with food and clothes, some people need help with housing, some people need help with electricity. We really tailor the approach to an individuallevel," said Victoria Dominguez, the community schools coordinator for Cuba Independent Schools, one of themost at-risk school districts in the state.

Advocates saycommunity school strategies help the state fulfill it's directives in theYazzie/Martinezlawsuit from 2018 thatrevealed at-risk children inNew Mexico aren't getting the same level of education as their peers.

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"The first step in really reinventing education is shiftingwho's at the table and in the roommaking decisions, and doing the deep listening that we need to do to understand(where) the people are at this point in time," Greenberg said.

Lucia Carrillo and her three young children ages 8, 5 and 2 live in Arrey, a small town south of Truth or Consequences. Carrillo also caresfor her 15-year-old niece, all while working toward for her degree in Early Childhood Education at Doa Ana Community College and New Mexico State University.

Carrillo said she has watched the small town come together since Arrey Elementary School became a community school in 2019.

"More people are coming out to get the help and seek the help," she said.

Arrey Community Elementary has fewer than 100 students enrolled, according to community school coordinator Yolanda Tafoya. However, Tafoya said she provides services to over 180 families in the area.

Tafoya said she's learned more about the community in the year she's been the Arrey Elementary community schools coordinator than in the past 12 years working for Truth or Consequences Municipal Schools

"Those home visits,going in and actually seeing where the students are living, and what their needs are, havejust opened my eyes tremendously," Tafoya said. "To know these are their struggles, (these are) some of the barriers that they may have.The reason we're here is all about students, helping them succeed. The only way that they can be successful in school, is make sure they have every basic needcovered."

For residents of rural communities such as Arrey and Cuba those needs can be myriad and wide-ranging, from food to clothes to health careto internet and utility services.

When Tafoya realized that internet access was a huge problem for Arrey families, the community schoolprovided computers, hotspots and other internet services. She said the school is also working on establishing a computer lab inside the school for anyone in the community.

This will helpstudents like Carrillo access online classes, Tafoya said.

Tafoya has also worked for years to establish a food pantry in town, which she has now done thanks in part to the community school label.

"Instead of it being an entity or an individual or church,we were able to establishunder the school district," she said.

Tafoya now receives weekly truckloads of food fromRoadrunner Food Bank as well as donations from the local grocery stores in Arrey and nearby Hatch. She now travels thedirt roads in rural town to deliverfood to 160 families 600 individuals weekly.

In the northwestern corner of the state, Cuba Independent Schoolsalso provides food to residents through its community school. The school building now hasracks of clothes that families have access to.

"The thing about Cuba is we're kind of in the middle of nowhere," said Dominguez, the community school coordinator."We don't have a lot of resources, so rather than dwelling on the fact that we don't have a lot of resources, we just created created our own."

Dominguezsaid one of thefamilies that utilizes the community school services lives about a 45-minute drivefrom the center of town. Often the family's grandma will come to pick up food or clothes for the 23 people living in that one houseand breaks down crying due to gratitude.

Building that trust with the community is key to providing resources, Dominguez said.

"(We're) letting people know thatwe're in this together, we're gonna get through this together, we're here to support you," she said.

Dominguez said that there are many families that don't have electricity or running water in the area. She said some have generators, but they are loud and expensive to sustain.

The week of Aug. 30, Cuba community schools helpedfacilitate the installation of solar panels in the homes of seven families, a program paid for by thethe New MexicoSenateand the Indigenous Education Department.

"You just let us knowwhat you need from us, and if we don't have resources, we're gonna find resources for you," she said.

Community schools are not just insmall towns. They are also in cities wherein the schools can rely more on partnering with already existing organizations in the area.

InLas Cruces Public Schools, the five community schools put a focus on outreach through after school programs.

MacArthur Community Elementaryoffers child care services, tutoring, professional development courses for staff, technology classes for adults and after school programs for students that they voted on themselves. MacArthur has also provided food, haircuts, school supplies and COVID-19 vaccines to community members.

LCPS community school families also receive free annual dental cleanings.

Similarly, atSierra Community Middle School in Roswell Independent Schools, community members receive free dental cleanings from local offices andfree vision exams and glasses at Walmart's vision clinic.

Sierra also has a brand new school-based health center that is open for general exams and behavioral health services.

"We are just now really kicking off community schoolsat Sierra," said Sierra Middle community schools coordinator Kristen Salyards. "I tell our leadership team that here at the school,when we do thisnot if we do this, but when we do this we will change lives. This has the potential and the possibility to change the lives of our students and their siblings and their parents."

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Of the 80 community schools statewide, 33 are still receiving state and federal funding, according to the New Mexico Public Education Department's most recent report on community schools.

All 33 are funded through the New Mexico Community Schools Act, which Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed in April 2019.

Community schools are often placed in areas of high poverty where their services are most needed. Of the 33 state-funded community schools, 16 are elementary schools, six are middle schools and six are high schools. The other five are charter schools servingK-8, K-12, K-2 and 6-12.

Through the Community Schools Act, $2 million was set aside for community school initiatives in New Mexico. Schools that are accepted for the grant receive$150,000 each year for a period of three years to get them started.

The thinking is after thatthree-year period, the community school would have sufficient roots and can rely on community partners and sponsors to continue its services.

In May, the PED issued 50 grants totaling $6.6 million to schools across New Mexico to plan for or to implement the community school strategy in the 2021-22 school year.

For the 2021-22 year, 21 new community schools were established and awarded planning grants ranging between$32,000 to $50,000.

According to LCPS district community school coordinator Amanda Barela,there is a sixth community schoolon the way in the district that will either be Mesilla Park Elementary or University Hills Elementary. She said both will become community schools eventually, but the district are working to decide who will get the funding through a$600,000 grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

Other funding sources can come from partnerslike Kellogg or from other state and federal grants.

On Monday, Gov. Lujan Grisham issued a proclamation naming the week of Sept. 20-24 Community School Coordinators Appreciation Week to celebrate the work community schools do for students and families.

The potential for longevity of community schools is something New Mexico excels in, according toJose Muoz,director of theCoalition for Community Schools, which is a national group that advocates for and supports the development of community schools. There are over 5,000 community schools in the U.S., with the majority being in New York and California.

However, Muoz said that New Mexico stands out because of the joint powers agreements that have been established between cities and districts in order to support community schools. Albuquerque Public Schools was the first to sign a joint powers agreement in 2007: the ABC Community Schools Partnership.The district nowhas 34 community schools.

In 2018, the City of Las Cruces and Las Cruces Public Schools signed a joint powers agreement modeled after the agreement in Albuquerque.

"A superintendent changes, a mayor changes, a county manager changes or something like that, but when you take the time and effort it takes to get a joint powers agreement,it doesn't change because it's recognized by the state and you are now an official entity," Muoz said. "We're built for the long run if we can get some more joint partnership agreementsthat include tribal nations (and)how they work with their surrounding counties and cities."

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It can be expected that more community schools will be established in New Mexico in the coming years.

In July, President Joe Biden proposed an increase offunding for community schools from $30 million to $443 million.

Muoz said his organization has a goal for 25 percent of all public schools in the United States to be community schools by 2025. He said that would create a tipping point in education.

"Once we get to that 25%,it'll withstand any position, or any politician,"Muoz said.

Miranda Cyr, a Report for America corps member, can be reached atmcyr@lcsun-news.comor@mirandabcyron Twitter. Show your support for the Report for America program athttps://bit.ly/LCSNRFA.

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Community schools aim to cover 'every basic need.' Here's how they do it in New Mexico - Las Cruces Sun-News