MarylandTransforms-StrategicPlanGuidebook - Flipbook - Page 51
MARYLAND TRANSFORMS - STRATEGIC PLAN 51
COMMUNITY SCHOOLS
Community schools promote positive, equitable outcomes by providing students and families with the physical and mental health, academic,
and extracurricular supports needed to thrive. Community schools serve as hubs that bring families, communities, and partners together to
remove barriers to learning by using an asset-based approach aimed to strengthen connections to generate improved student outcomes.
This evidence-based strategy focuses on four pillars: integrated student supports, expanded and enriched learning time and opportunities,
family and community engagement, and collaborative leadership and practices.9
Under the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, any school that receives Concentration of Poverty Grants must implement the community
school model. Concentration of Poverty Grants provide schools with startup funding and permanent per-pupil dollars to launch and sustain
community schools. The grants are formula-based and awarded to schools on an annual basis. As of fiscal year 2023, there are 358 community
schools receiving Concentration of Poverty Grants.