The Abingdon-Avon Middle and High Schools have entered a partnership with the Regional Office of Education #33 to launch ACT Now, bringing a Full-Service Community School Strategy to the district, focusing on four pillars: collaborative leadership and practices, expanded and enriched learning opportunities, integrated student support, and active family and student engagement. Kathryn Jennings, Director of ROE Services, explains the next steps of ACT Now:
“The next step is going to be to establish leadership teams at the Abingdon-Avon School District. That is going to mean going door to door, identifying the voices that haven’t been brought to the table yet, and really the greatest takeaway in all of the studying that we have done on the Full-Service Community Schools and what they mean is that the school becomes the center hub for the community. Everything funnels in and out of the school district. We are looking at ways that we can make that happen so that we bring all families into the school building. Monetarily, this will bring $5 million over five years. $500,000 is awarded to each school for five years. With that money we will be able to identify what those resources are that are missing, what partnerships we need to continue to work through, what partnerships we need to establish, and basically create what is called pipeline services that will allow a child from birth to be served all the way through adulthood with that school as the hub.”
Through the Full-Service Community School Strategy partnership, the Abingdon-Avon School District will look to add mental health services, food, clothing, and hygiene pantries, on-site laundry services, parent education, and working with students on post-secondary plans.
