Los Angeles Education Partnership

This session highlights collaborative leadership as the foundation of the Community Schools model. It emphasizes shared-decision making among students, families, educators, and community partners to build trust, equity, and collective responsibility, Collaborative leadership strengthens the other pillars by creating inclusive, student-centered environments and leveraging the expertise of all stakeholders.

This session focuses on the pillar of active family and community engagement, emphasizing that families and communities must move beyond involvement to true empowerment and shared decision-making. By giving stakeholders a voice, identifying community assets an needs, and building strong partnerships, schools can function as hubs that support equity, meet diverse needs, and foster student success.

 

This session highlight the pillar of integrated student supports , which focuses on removing barriers to learning by connecting students and families with academic, health, and mental health services. A community school coordinator plays a key role in building partnerships and coordinating resources, guided by ongoing needs and asset assessments. With the whole school engaged and working together, this pillar ensures students are supported holistically, promoting equity and helping every student thrive.

This module focuses on the pillar expanded learning, which extends beyond the traditional school day through after-school, weekend, and summer programs that provide academic support and real-world, hands-on experiences. By addressing the whole-child-academic, social-emotional, physical ad identity development - schools can build equity and prepare students for lifelong success.

 

This module focuses on the four cornerstone commitments that ground the Community Schools framework: assets-driven and strength-based practice, racially just and restorative school climates, culturally proficient and relevant instruction, and shared decision-making with participatory practices. These commitments form the foundation upon which the four pillars are built, ensuring schools are equitable, inclusive, and student-centered.

This final module recaps the Community Schools framework, emphasizing the four pillars and four cornerstone commitments as tools for equity and school transformation. It highlights that successful implementation requires shifting away from traditional approaches toward inclusive, collaborative practices.

This module focuses on Collaborative Leadership 101, defining it as students, families, educators, and community partners working together to build trust, shared responsibility, and a culture of learning. It is described as the "relational glue" that connects and strengthens all other pillars, creating inclusive, equitable schools through shared vision, co-created learning environments, and collective problem-solving.

This module explores the characteristics and mindsets of collaborative leaders in Community Schools. It introduces four leadership types - bystanders, negotiators, regulators, and collaborators - emphasizing that true collaborators balance performance with partnership through transparency, trust, and shared decision-making. Collaborative leadership shifts power away from top-down models, uplifts historically excluded voices, and builds strong, inclusive school communities.

This session explores collaborative governing structures, highlighting the shift from traditional top-down decision-making to shared, democratic models where all stakeholders have a voice. It emphasizes the roles of existing teams - such as school site councils, advisory groups, and instructional teams - in advancing a shared vision for Community Schools. 

This section focuses on reflecting on the current and desired states of collaborative leadership within schools. Using the State Transformational Assistance Center (S-TAC) capacity-building rubric, participants assess whether they are in the visioning, engaging, or transforming phase. The module encourages celebrating existing success, setting short- and long-term goals, and recognizing that building sustainable collaborative leadership is an ongoing process that starts with a mindset shift and grows through small, intentional steps. 

This final module highlights collaborative leadership as the "relational glue" of the Community Schools framework, ensuring all stakeholders have a voice. It encourages reflection on current practices, setting goals for growth, and using available resources to strengthen inclusive, democratic school structures.

This module explains how to set the stage for effective shared decision-making by ensuring the right stakeholders are present - including students, families, staff, and community members - and by creating opportunities for collaboration during planning and problem-solving. It emphasizes moving beyond information sharing to authentic engagement where all voices influence outcomes. 

This session focuses on creating a collaborative culture in meetings by addressing the head (clear purpose and vision), hands (roles, tools, and responsibilities), and heart (psychological safety and inclusion). Strategies include co-created agendas, rotating roles like facilitator or timekeeper, and building trust through relational opportunities and shared accountability. The goal is to make meetings welcoming, inclusive, and effective so all voices are heard and valued.

This module explores the benefits of consensus decision-making, a process where all stakeholders contribute ideas and concerns to reach solutions everyone supports. Unlike simple voting, consensus fosters collaboration, creativity, and commitment. Participants are introduced to strategies such as fist to five, gradients of agreement, and multi-voting, with opportunities to read, reflect, and consider how to apply these approaches in their own collaborative teams.

This final session highlights key considerations after a decision is made: gathering feedback to refine processes, creating shared accountability in follow-through, communication decisions transparently, and evaluating effectiveness through reflection and continuous improvement. It emphasizes that successful shared decision-making requires planning, clear protocols, collaboration, and ongoing communication to strengthen community schools.