Each Buffalo Community School hosts 8 Saturday Academies a year (as well as 4 evening events). Academies are an “open house” of sorts, where the schools become bustling hubs of activities for the neighborhoods. Entirely free, Academies provide all attendees breakfast and lunch. The Community Schools teams within each building, consisting of building leads and CBO partners, work together to program these events. They bring engaging, educational, and needed resources to the community’s families.

A few examples of the programming and resources at Academies during '23-'24 SY included engineering with WNY Stem, bike safety and repair with GOBike, healthy cooking classes with F Bites, and free haircuts from local barber Justin Becton. 

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 Integrated Student Supports, Family Engagement 

Brooklyn's P.S. 59:
Removing Barriers and Creating Cultivating Spaces
 

Striving to meet the interests of a diverse learner population, P.S. 59 provides specially designed spaces for learning and enrichment, such as a Dance Studio, a STEM Lab, and a Fashion Studio. In the Industry Room, students can develop skills that may lead to future careers in Photography, Graphic Design, Content Creation, DJing, Fashion Design, Hairstyling, and Cosmetology.

Removing barriers to learning and providing wraparound services is key to how they support their students. P.S. 59 offers breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day. They also provide free eye and dental exams, mental health resources, a food pantry, laundry services, and a special Sensory and Gross Motor Skills Center for state-of-the-art PT, OT, and counseling services.

Their support also extends to families, offering connections to ESL and GED courses, including an in-house English Language course.
 

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 Collaborative Leadership 

Liberty Central School District:
A Shared Vision and Collaborative Leadership


 

The Liberty Central School District, located in Sullivan County, is a rural district that serves approximately 1,600 students. With its unique geography, surrounded by mountains and other natural barriers, Liberty is an isolated community with a large population living in poverty. However, these challenges are no match for the district’s leadership team, who champion a district-wide Community Schools approach.

The district builds from its assets, which include a dedicated community and a can-do spirit that runs through every level of district staff. To accomplish the goal of offering programming while remaining fiscally conservative, the district has turned to shared leadership and responsibility with a wide range of leaders and community partners. Working with various community stakeholders including parents, students, government officials, teachers, and others ensures that all perspectives share the vision for community schools and for creating a strategic implementation plan.

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