The Full-Service Community School Movement: Lessons from the James Adams Community School PDF
Preview The Full-Service Community School Movement: Lessons from the James Adams Community School
The Full-Service Community School Movement This page intentionally left blank The Full-Service Community School Movement Lessons from the James Adams Community School Jeanita W. Richardson THEFULL-SERVICECOMMUNITYSCHOOLMOVEMENT Copyright©JeanitaW.Richarson,2009. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2009 978-0-230-61848-0 Allrightsreserved. Firstpublishedin2009byPALGRAVEMACMILLAN®inthe UnitedStates-adivisionofSt.Martin’sPressLLC,175FifthAvenue, NewYork,NY10010. WherethisbookisdistributedintheUK,Europeandtherestof theworld,thisisbyPalgraveMacmillan,adivisionofMacmillan PublishersLimited,registeredinEngland,companynumber785998, ofHoundmills,Basingstoke,HampshireRG216XS. PalgraveMacmillanistheglobalacademicimprintoftheabove companiesandhascompaniesandrepresentativesthroughouttheworld. Palgrave®andMacmillan®areregisteredtrademarksintheUnited States,theUnitedKingdom,Europeandothercountries. ISBN 978-1-349-38107-4 ISBN 978-0-230-10156-2 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9780230101562 LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Richardson,JeanitaW.,1957– Thefull-servicecommunityschoolmovement:lessonsfromthe JamesAdamsCommunitySchool/JeanitaW.Richardson. p. cm. Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. ISBN 978-1-349-38107-4 1. JamesAdamsCommunitySchool(Coatesville,Pa.) 2. Communityschools—UnitedStates—Casestudies. 3. Children withsocialdisabilities—UnitedStates—Casestudies. 4. Childrenof minorities—Education—UnitedStates—Casestudies. 5. Segregationineducation—UnitedStates—Casestudies. I. Title. LB2820.R532009 371.0309743(cid:2)13—dc22 2009023746 DesignbyIntegraSoftwareServices Firstedition:December2009 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Somanypeoplejoinedmeonthisjourneybutafewmustbespecifically named.ThankyoutoDianeRofiniandtheChesterCountyHistoricalSoci- ety staff, Paul Johnson, Barry Gibney, Mrs. Betty Cuff, Vance “Carmin” Garnett, Aunt Teenie, David Anderson (Cuz), Aunt Angella, Wendy, and alumniandfriendsofJamesAdams.ToMom,Amanda,John,andallthe invisible shoulders (like Grandmother White) I stand on who kept me goingbeyondmycapacity,thankyou.And... ToGrandmaandGrandpawhosehandsguidedmebeyondtheveiltomake suretheirstorywastoldinthespiritofCIHU.Iloveyouandmissyoumore nowthanever... T.J.andAnitaAnderson By:JeanAndersonWhite MomandDadwereanexcellentteam Inourheartstheyreignsupreme Demonstratingloveintegrityandsuch Encouragingthosewhoselivestheytouched Aspecialcouplegeneratinghope Leaderswithcouragehelpeduscope TheytaughtusCIHUthatthetruthwillsetusfree Tobeourverybest,abetterworldwewouldsee. This page intentionally left blank Contents TablesandFigures viii Introduction 1 1 Full-ServiceCommunitySchools:TheirPast,TheirPresent, andTheirFuture 11 2 TheEfficacyofaCommunityApproach 37 3 PursuingExcellenceinaSegregatedSystem:Coatesville,a TownofParadoxes 65 4 TheCornerstones:TheBlurredPersonalandProfessional LivesofT.J.andAnitaAnderson 87 5 JamesAdamsCommunitySchool:ManifestingtheVision 111 6 InTheirOwnWords:ReflectionsfromAlumniandFaculty 139 7 LookingBackwardtoPlanAhead:Lessonsforthe CommunityandFull-ServiceSchoolMovement 161 Index 187 Tables and Figures Tables 1.1 ConcentrationofStudentsinMajority–MinorityPublic Schools 15 1.2 CommunityandFull-ServiceSchoolDefinitions 18 2.1 LeadersandLeadership 52 3.1 JamesAdamsPrincipals 80 4.1 CommunitySchoolLeadershipComparison 106 5.1 PartnershipComparison 114 5.2 OrganizationalDevelopmentandJACS 123 5.3 JACSGraduationThemesandSpeakers 129 6.1 BenefitsofaHighlyFunctioningCommunitySchoolfor StudentsandCommunities 157 Figures 2.1 FromRisktoResilience 43 2.2 EcologyofHumanDevelopment 45 2.3 HighlyEffectiveCommunitySchool(HECS)Model 50 4.1 CIHUandtheCommunity 103 7.1 HighlyEffectiveCommunitySchool(HECS)ModelRevisited 169 Introduction Wehaveapowerfulpotentialinouryouth,andwemusthavethecourage tochangeoldideasandpracticessothatwemaydirecttheirpowertowards goodends. –MaryMcLeodBethune(Bethune,2000,p.395) Schools and the way they interact with children and families possess untapped potential. Unleashing the intellectual prowess of all of the nation’s students requires a courage we have not yet collectively demon- strated.Thebraverythateducatorsneedtoexercise,asperMaryMcLeod Bethune, is a willingness to break from traditional ideas and practices in order to embrace new and different strategies. For some children the standardizededucationalsysteminthiscountrysuffices.Theyaredemon- strating acceptable degrees of success and in some cases are excelling. However,therearetensofthousandsofotherstudentswhoarelanguishing inclassroomsacrossthecountry. Public K – 12 schools are charged with meeting prescriptive account- abilitystandardsatatimewhenmanychildrenfacedilemmasexternalto schoolsthatdirectlyandindirectlyinfluencelearningreadinessandcapac- ity. Tremendous resources ($440.3 billion in 2002–3) are being devoted to public schools and yet, schools alone do not command the resources neededtoeliminateormitigatethestressorstolearningexternaltoschools thatimpactlearningreadinesssuchasthespectersofrace,socioeconomic status,andhealth(Richardson,2006). In the wake of stringent standards and increasing numbers of “at- risk” youth failing to meet performance benchmarks, there is a growing acknowledgementthatsocialnetworksarecriticaltoacademicsuccess.In the late1980s andearly1990s callscamefromthe academicliteratureto considernetworksoforganizationspartneringwithschoolsasaneffective means of meeting the needs of children (Dryfoos, 1994; Kronick, 2005; Warren, 2005). Theorists such as Joy G. Dryfoos posited holistic inter- ventions on behalf of children that by definition necessitated family and community inclusion (Dryfoos, 1994, 2002, 2003; Dryfoos & Maguire, 2002).Therationalewasthatschoolsarealmostthelastinstitutionwhere all members of a community might express a vested interest. As schol- arship and the practical application of holistic theories confirmed their
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