Community Groups and Educational Partners

The Oregon Department of Education requires districts and schools to engage students of color; students with disabilities; emerging bilingual students; students navigating poverty, homelessness, and foster care; migrant students; students with experience of incarceration or detention; LGBTQ2IA+ students; students recently arrived; other students who have historically experienced academic disparities; the families of students in these focal groups; and staff. This section will guide districts in identifying additional groups to engage with to support students and families.

The U.S. Department of Education emphasized the importance of "addressing the specific needs of underserved children and students" and to "engage families and students" to help understand and meet those needs in their 2021 publication: Supporting Child and Student Social, Emotional, Behavioral, and Mental Health Needs. (Links to an external site.) Collaborating with families and community partners is essential to positively impact students’ mental or behavioral health needs.

Let's look closer at ways districts can begin to work towards becoming the community schools all children and families need.

As you referenced on page 96, there are many groups to develop partnerships with for a robust community engagement:

- community-based organizations (CBOs)
- community leaders
- tribal members
- faith-based organizations
- licensed and classified staff
- early learning educators and providers
- CTE Regional Coordinators
- ESD Regional Liaisons
- school volunteers (PTAs, PTOs, parent clubs, site councils, boosters, etc.)
- school board members
- community college and higher education leaders
- out of school time child care providers
- employers/business partners
- state or local workforce development board representative
- focal groups of students and parents
- representatives from agencies serving at risk
- homeless out-of-school youth and adults, foster youth, military families, disability services
- STEM Hub and Regional Educator Network representatives

All of these groups have a shared interest in students and families in your district and can enrich their experiences.

The many varied community groups in each district form a "community landscape." This landscape can be thought of as the strengths, resources, and needs of a community. Knowing and building reciprocal relationships and partnerships with community groups is essential for expanding the impact of your district's community engagement. So who are the community groups in your community?

District Community Landscape Activity

Let’s take some time to begin brainstorming the community groups in your district. Use the District Community Engagement Planning Template to reflect on the various community groups in your community landscape. Complete the District Community Landscape section in the template. (This section will be revisited in Module 2 planning.)

Community engagement is important in rural communities too.

Now that you have invested time thinking about which groups your district engages with and how you connect with them, let's move on to Section 1.4 to focus on developing a community engagement team.

Go to the Next Section: 1.4