About 75 people from around the state gathered December 2 in Lansing to hear from national researchers and experts in Community Schools, and to preview early results from our own Kent School Services Network. Currently, KSSN operates in eight schools in Godfrey-Lee and Grand Rapids Public Schools.  Kent ISD is part of this community school coalition, which includes partners from schools, government, health and human service providers and the local foundations which provided the funding to launch and grow KSSN. 

The coalition provides health and human services right in the school building, with a social worker to help coordinate the family needs and service providers. As a result of these efforts, students can stay in school and learning. Kent ISD helped in the extensive planning, provides leadership, operations management, communications services and is the fiduciary, or bookkeeper, for the initiative.

Early results from an independent evaluator show absenteeism declining in most of the participating schools, as well as discipline problems.  Going up is the satisfaction of teachers, who can spend more time teaching and less time doing the social work the families need.  Also on the rise in these schools are standardized test scores.

 

 

including study results, speaker presentations and speaker bios