Family, school, and community partnerships: practical strategies for afterschool programs

Much attention is given today to the importance of forging family, school, and community partnerships. Growing numbers of schools, many of them with afterschool programs, are dedicating resources to support and sustain relationships with families and community-based organizations. And, among government agencies and the philanthropic sector, there is widespread recognition that schools cannot be successful if they function alone in their quest to educate our nation's children, but must work with families and in the context of the community. Although the field is enjoying unprecedented popularity and many more schools and afterschool programs are partnering with community agencies and organizations, the notion of engaging parents and the community has not yet become an integral part of school reform, and in the afterschool field, practitioners who work at the program level directly with students often struggle with how they can make partnerships a reality. This chapter draws upon lessons learned from the School of the 21st Century (21C) to provide practical strategies for reaching out to and working with families and the community. The School of the 21st Century includes an afterschool component and is one of several national initiatives that use a community school strategy.