The rural schools that I’ve visited across the country are each unique—from Newhalen, Alaska, where as a visiting researcher I flew in on a bush plane, to Houston, Missouri, where the district recently purchased a small defunct factory to eliminate students’ hours-long commutes for welding courses. Each school has its own set of traditions, strengths, and challenges.
However, whether students are Newhalen Malamutes or Houston Tigers, there are similarities. On a busy winter morning, as students are hopping off snowmobiles or climbing off buses, these rural schools feel like the center of activity in their communities.
How can we capitalize on the energy of our unique rural places? One way is to consider adopting a community school approach. When implemented well, this evidence-based approach can help ensure student academic success and well-being, as well as family and community engagement and development.
Community schools use established partnerships among schools, families, and community organizations to provide well-rounded educational opportunities to meet the academic needs and the social, emotional, physical, and mental health needs of students. They are not a new idea.
I think back to the beginnings of public schooling and Jane Addams’s Hull House in Chicago in the early 1900s. This settlement house provided social and educational opportunities for working-class people (many of them recent European immigrants and English learners) in the surrounding neighborhood. Hull House began by holding free concerts and lectures and by operating clubs for children and adults. They eventually had a school where parents and community members both learned and taught.
Today, community schools share four pillars:
- integrated student supports
- expanded and enriched learning time and opportunities
- collaborative leadership and practices
- active family and community engagement, sometimes simply called the hub for families and communities
In many rural areas, the school is already the hub. From Friday night football to polling stations, the school is where far-flung neighbors meet at the center of entertainment and civic life.
In the past year, community schools have expanded the way they serve students. This has often been in response to the pandemic, which disrupted the supply chain as well as employment for many in rural areas. Schools like those in Wilton, North Dakota, used ongoing connections and a regional social worker service to make sure families had the food and household items they needed to take care of their children. Staff also made sure families knew where to go for medical care and had the gas money to get there.
For rural communities, capitalizing on schools as community hubs should not, however, simply pile more responsibilities on the plates of already overburdened teachers and administrators. Instead, community schools should build on the strengths of the rural community. Sometimes this means thinking beyond the town the school serves and drawing on county and regional partners as well.
Based on my experiences with community schools and with educators and families in rural areas, here are four ways rural schools can maximize their strengths as hubs of the community:
- Keep doing what you already do well. Many rural schools are known for their strong community spirit. Your rural school has strengths. Identify and magnify those strengths.
- Learn more about community schools in general, not just in rural places. Borrow and adapt ideas from resources such as the Community Schools Playbook. You can also check out the Coalition for Community Schools and National Center for Community Schools for upcoming events and new publications.
- Draw on regional technical assistance providers to connect your rural school to an expanded scope of services, such as those offered by the Central Regional Education Association in North Dakota.
- Take advantage of current federal funding opportunities. For more information about how community schools and similar initiatives are funded, the U.S. Department of Education has published a set of frequently asked questions.
Everyone knows that it takes a strong hub to support the force of a rapidly turning wheel. Rural schools can be that hub for the students, families, and communities they serve. If they intentionally draw on a community schools approach, they can use their central place in the community to connect to important resources from partner organizations, such as food distribution, health services, professional learning for teachers, and adult courses for parents and community members. This can enhance student learning and strengthen the community at the same time.
