Architects for the new Orange County school were touring public 鈥渃ommunity schools鈥� in New York that had a track record of helping children in poverty succeed and thrive with support from community partners such as the Children鈥檚 Aid Society. The community schools offered health care, enrichment programs and other services for students.

The architects were looking for design ideas for a school to be opened in Parramore and were excited by what they saw, said Nancy Ellis, director of the Center for Community Partnerships and a graduate of the doctoral program in public affairs at the 麻豆原创. 鈥淏y lunch they were making sketches on what was handy in one of the school鈥檚 cafeteria.鈥�

Ellis and colleagues at the College of Health and Public Affairs, Children鈥檚 Home Society of Florida and True Health had already partnered with Orange County Public Schools to develop a community school at Evans High School in Pine Hills that began in 2010.

The high school was seeing a steady increase in its graduation rate and the future seemed promising, so Orange County School Superintendent Barbara Jenkins wanted the new school in Parramore to be a community school too, said Ellis.

Ellis coordinated the 2015 trip for the principal architects from Baker Barrios, the Orlando-based architecture firm hired by the school district, and representatives from the school district, 麻豆原创 and Children鈥檚 Home Society of Florida.

The following year she coordinated a similar trip for three new community partners now involved in the Parramore school project 鈥� Orange Blossom Family Health, Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida, and the Rosen Foundation. Andrew Rollins, the newly hired principal, went as well.

Both trips and ongoing conversations among the partners have helped the school district reach its milestone today of launching the new OCPS Academic Center for Excellence as a community school for some 1,200 students and their families and community.

The school will serve not only Parramore but also the Callahan and Holden Heights neighborhoods, said school board District 5 representative Kate Gordon at an Aug. 9 sneak peek of the school.

鈥淭he parents are excited. The students are excited. We鈥檙e going to do great things this year,鈥� said Rollins, who earned two degrees in education at 麻豆原创.

OCPS ACE is formally known as a Community Partnership School, the name coined by 麻豆原创 and Children鈥檚 Home Society of Florida for the school model developed at Evans High.

All community schools foster strong partnerships to support the well-being of students and their families and communities, but the programs and services vary depending on the needs, said Amy Ellis, assistant director of the Center for Community Schools at 麻豆原创.

In the case of Community Partnership Schools, four types of community partners are always involved 鈥� a school district, a university or college, a nonprofit and a health care provider. Other types of community partners participate, too, and can play a major role.

For OCPS ACE the partnerships are among Orange County Public Schools, 麻豆原创, Valencia College, Children鈥檚 Home Society of Florida, Orange Blossom Family Health, Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida, and the Rosen Foundation.

The partnerships mean OCPS ACE can offer tutoring and mentoring programs; professional development for teachers; before- and after-school services; a resource center for parents; onsite medical, dental and behavioral health services; athletic, arts and summer programs; and a high-quality preschool program.

鈥淐ommunity Partnership Schools are among the most comprehensive community schools in the world,鈥� said Amy Ellis, a former community school administrator at Evans who has visited community schools in England and is studying them as a doctoral student in education leadership at 麻豆原创.

The Community Partnership Schools model is now recognized as a national community school model by the Coalition for Community Schools in Washington.

The Florida Legislature appropriated more than $4 million dollars during the past four years for the development of Community Partnership Schools across the state.

Currently, eight public schools in Florida have become Community Partnership Schools with state support, including Evans and OCPS ACE in Orlando and schools in Pensacola, Jacksonville, Tampa, Holiday and Cocoa. Five others are implementing the Community Partnership Schools model with support from their local community, and another four are in the emerging phase, said Amy Ellis.

Early-outcomes data is impressive. Evans鈥檚 graduation rate has increased from 64 percent in 2011 to 88 percent in 2017. C.A. Weis Elementary School in Pensacola began offering behavioral health services when it became a Community Partnership School in 2015. Since then more than 100 children have been referred to behavioral health care and 81 new cases have been opened, according to school director John Sherman. Student referrals dropped 43 percent and suspensions dropped 50 percent in the first year.

Sherman鈥檚 position as director is one of four staff positions found at all Community Partnership Schools 鈥� a director, an after-school coordinator, a health programs鈥� coordinator and a parent resource coordinator. The positions are partially supported with legislative funding.

Shannon Currie has been on board as the Community Partnership School director at OCPS ACE since last year. She is an employee of Children鈥檚 Home Society of Florida, works closely with the school principal, and receives training and technical support from the Center for Community Schools at 麻豆原创.

鈥淚t鈥檚 an amazing experience to be a partner and to understand what it takes to support a school holistically,鈥� Currie said. 鈥淚鈥檓 doing what I love to do 鈥� to serve people. What I want them to know is that they have access to support. If they know that, then we鈥檙e doing our job.鈥�

鈥淪tudents and staff at 麻豆原创 stepped up to the plate to support our Trojans, their families and our teachers, exceeding all expectations,鈥� wrote Jennifer Eubanks, principal and Partners in Education coordinator at Evans High School, in her nomination letter. 鈥溌槎乖� is a dynamic partner involved in multiple initiatives, from supporting our teachers and students in our reading classes to providing mental health services to our families for free.鈥�

Each school principal in Orange County can nominate the school鈥檚 top partners, and among the hundreds of nominees and 25 award winners, 鈥溌槎乖� clearly stood out,鈥� added Sara Au, senior specialist with OCPS鈥� Partners in Education.

麻豆原创 is a leading partner in the Evans High School 鈥� A Community School, along with OCPS, Children鈥檚 Home Society of Florida and True Health. 鈥淲e came together to address the barriers and challenges to academic success that Evans students experience. Their needs change, and we adjust to meet them,鈥� said Heather McClellan, assistant director at COPHA鈥檚 Center for Community Partnerships.

For example, the center recruits students from across the university to volunteer as mentors for incoming freshmen, an important program in the community school. The mentors go to Evans twice a month and meet one-on-one with the 9th graders, where they discuss issues ranging from everyday life to what happens after graduation.

With all the resources 麻豆原创 has to offer, Frumkin hopes eventually to connect every college across the university to Evans and be a presence in students鈥� lives. The Center for Community Partnerships, staffed by Ellis, McClellan, a graduate student and a federal work study student, will play a pivotal role in those connections.

“Our mission reminds us that we can only lead students to success with the support and involvement of families and the community. This school year alone, our volunteers and Partners in Education have provided a countless number of resources to our schools,” said OCPS Superintendent Barbara Jenkins, a three-time 麻豆原创 graduate. “We are extremely pleased to have them as part of our OCPS team.”

The grant was awarded to Community Health Centers, Inc., a local nonprofit, and聽comes after two years of research and planning by the 麻豆原创, Children鈥檚 Home Society of Florida and Orange County Public Schools. The clinics will be a key component of a community school the three partners are working to establish at Evans.

鈥淲e identified Community Health Centers, Inc., as a Federally Qualified Health Center that could secure funding to build the clinics and provide the clinical services,鈥� said 麻豆原创 Center for Community Partnerships Director Nancy Ellis, who helped develop the successful grant proposal. 鈥淭hey submitted a proposal to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services鈥� school-based health centers initiative and were awarded $307,325 for the project.鈥�

The funds will be used to build and equip a 2,117 square-foot clinic at聽a new campus for Evans, which is currently under construction. The clinic will include two examination rooms, a dental care facility, a therapy room, a lab and sterilization room, two offices, a conference room, a reception area and waiting room, administrative and storage space, and bathrooms.

The school-based health facility will open at Evans鈥� new campus in August 2012. It will offer medical services Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and dental services on Fridays, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The facility also will offer students health screenings and sponsor health promotion and disease prevention activities.

鈥淥nce the center is established, we anticipate that more half of Evans鈥� 1,900-plus students will be using its services,鈥� Ellis said.

Providing students with health care services at school should increase student attendance and improve student performance and achievement.

Community Health Centers currently has 10 neighborhood clinics in Orange and Lake counties and is the largest provider of medical and dental services to uninsured and underserved populations in Central Florida. As a Federally Qualified Health Center, the nonprofit is eligible to receive federal funding for all qualified patients who come to聽its centers.

For an announcement of the grant funding by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Learn more about plans for the聽community school at Evans.