Community School

Our school uses a community school strategy to address the needs of students and families to reduce barriers to learning and ensure students can reach their full potential. Our model includes:

• Expanded Learning Opportunities during lunch, afterschool or weekends that provide enrichment or remediation supports. Enrichment opportunities include programs such as art, literary magazine, dance, music, STEM, or yoga/mindfulness. Our remediation supports include tutoring and reading specialists. We partner with Harlem Dowling Westside Center and Teachers College graduate students for many of these opportunities.
• Health & Social Services such as workshops and referrals for students and parents around physical health, adult education, food insecurity, nutrition, asthma awareness, housing, and other social services. Our attendance initiatives also focus on ensuring health isn’t a barrier to coming to school on time.
• Family & Community Engagement to include parents as partners in student success. We provide parent workshops and invite the community to celebrate school-wide events such as Black History Month, Respect for All Week, and our Breast Cancer Awareness Walk.
• Dental & Vision Services ensure students have access to dental screenings and follow-up care, and get screened for eyeglasses with free glasses for students who need them.

• Mental Health Services include additional social workers and our school-based mental health clinic located within the school building. The social workers from our partner agencies work with our school’s guidance counselor to reach students and families in need. Together, they guide our social emotional work.
  
• Strong Academics anchor our efforts, since we know students need access to high quality instruction and curriculum. Our partnership with Teachers College allows our teachers to receive customized professional development from the REACH Team.

We work to link each of these areas in a coherent and intentional way, ensuring there are connections between what’s happening in the classroom and what’s happening at home so that everyone is working to support the student.

Community School Director

Our CSD is Chabeli Menendez, and she can be reached at CM4007@tc.columbia.edu. Ms. Menendez works closely with the school staff and partners to coordinate resources and ensure the needs of students and families are addressed.