4 schools to become models as LR ‘hubs’
Goal is a refocus on communities
Four elementary schools, all south of Interstate 630, will be part of a new community schools model that Little Rock and the Little Rock School District are implementing, officials announced Wednesday.
The initiative aims to turn schools into neighborhood “hubs” that provide resources — including social services and after-school activities — to students and families in need.
“The four schools announced today will be the start of Little Rock’s commitment to showing support for vulnerable students and neighborhoods,” Jay Barth, the city’s chief education officer, said in a video.
The four schools are:
■ Booker T. Washington Elementary.
■ Chicot Elementary.
■ Stephens Elementary.
■ Watson Elementary.
Barth said in an interview that city and district officials researched the neighborhoods and identified areas with needs that include food insecurity, lack of access to health care and large numbers of parents for whom English is not their first language. Officials also looked at rates of student absenteeism and students
reading on grade level.
“All of those things overlap and create real challenges, and this is part of our city’s commitment to really creating a more equitable Little Rock, and it happens neighborhood by neighborhood, school by school,” he said.
Officials also looked at the physical space that the schools had available, as well as possible organizations in the areas that could work with the school to provide resources.
Though the city and district’s
efforts mark a concentrated approach to coordinate services at certain schools in areas that many consider disadvantaged, the schools already have some community partnerships in place, according to Darian Smith, the school district’s executive director of elementary education.
For instance, the local chapter of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity participates in a tutoring and mentoring program for Booker T. Washington students, and local churches work with the other three schools, Smith said.
“As you can see, you have community entities that
are already engaged in the schools, and so how do we strengthen those partnerships and expand them, and provide additional support for the community?” Smith said.
Smith said elementary schools were selected as Little Rock’s first community schools to create a foundation of support for students as they move up through middle and high school.
The district will hire four community school coordinators, one for each school, in the next few weeks, Smith said.
The coordinators will be the single point of contact for
wrap-around services at their assigned schools, acting as a bridge for students, families and organizations — such as corporations or nonprofits — that provide supportive services.
Officials also plan to do a needs assessment to hear directly from students, families and the neighborhoods, and from there select the most urgent needs to address.
“I think the very important point is we want to really hear the voices of parents and students and community members before we start providing services,” Barth said.
Barth said the plan is to spend the first half of the school year getting the community school coordinators on board and doing the needs assessment and prioritization, and then to have programs implemented in the spring.
Mayor Frank Scott Jr. hired Barth in late 2019 to coordinate the community schools program and other educational initiatives. He is the city’s first chief education officer.
In a tweet Wednesday, Scott thanked Barth and Little
Rock School District Superintendent Mike Poore for working to create better learning environments for students in the city.
Smith, who has lived in Little Rock for most of his life, said he is hopeful that community schools will help restore some of the neighborhood pride centered on schools that he recalls seeing in his youth.
“You really want to see that pride come back into the communities that I remember seeing when I was growing up,” he said. “Everyone was very prideful of their community school and their community.”