The Role of the Principal
The Important Focus of Leaders
Principals are visionaries, advocates, and leaders in community schools, emphasizing the importance of building trust, fostering collaboration, and driving systemic change to support students and families.
Principals who are new to leading a community school focus on:
Developing their leadership team
Structures for collaboration & cohesion with their community school coordinator
Messaging the community school strategy & the coordinator role to the school community
Resources for Learning
For more about The Role of the Principal in Community Schools, click here.
Questions Guiding A Community School
Leadership Mindset
Organizing work around equity, leadership, and the whole-child approach supports the mindset required to lead an evolving community school.
Use these questions to guide the work of creating your vision, building strong relationships, and implementing day-to-day community school operations.
Equity literacy
How does our community understand and address the current and historic inequities and leverage our assets to address those inequities? How will the policies and practices in our community school impact the most marginalized members of our community?
To learn more about equity literacy: Equity Literacy Institute
Adaptive leadership
What are the root causes and complex issues our community must address so all children can thrive? How can we create conditions for the community to work together to foster the transformative conditions to address these adaptive challenges?
To learn more about adaptive leadership: Adaptive Leadership: How Great School Principals Lead for Change
Whole child approach
How do the system, practices, and organization of our community school support both children’s bodies and minds?
To learn more about the Whole Child Approach: Whole Child Policy Toolkit
Community School Voices
Elise Jones
Principal, Fountain Hill Elementary School, Bethlehem, PA
“I think you have to see them as your partner. You cannot see them… like, they’re a leader in your school. And I think that that was what changed under my leadership. And then I did bring on a new community school coordinator….”
AIR Case Study
Chicago Public Schools Community Schools Initiative: Case Study of Collaborative Leadership
Case study from two community schools in Chicago highlighting intentional strategies, promising practices, challenges, and lessons learned about collaborative leadership.
Chuanika Saunders-Thomas
Principal Coach, Philadelphia Public Schools
“It’s no way in today’s time to run a school without recognizing that a school is part of a system who historically has been oppressive to certain groups of people in understanding why communities aren’t excited about entering the doors of a schoolhouse has a lot of racial implications….”
Strengthen Your Leadership. Deepen Your Impact.
The National Center for Community Schools helps principals turn the community schools strategy into action with clear guidance, practical tools, and trusted expertise. Ready to move your work forward? Let’s connect.
