Skip to main content
Policy Playbook

Community Schools Playbook

Published
Community Schools Playbook cover

Around the country, educators, grassroots organizations, and policymakers are advancing comprehensive community schools as a powerful evidenced-based equity strategy. Together, they’re creating high-performing schools that serve as centers of community life, where educators, families, and local partners come together to support student well-being and academic success.

commschools playbook sidebar 400x542

The Community Schools Playbook, from the Partnership for the Future of Learning, is a comprehensive policy and implementation guide for those looking to advance community schools. It provides an in-depth review of the strategy, details the four key pillars of comprehensive community schools—Integrated Student Supports, Expanded and Enriched Learning Time and Opportunities, Active Family and Community Engagement, and Collaborative Leadership and Practices—and has both communications and policy development resources, including policy examples from across the United States and model legislative language.

The Playbook is available on a new interactive web site, hosted by the Partnership for the Future of Learning. Visitors to the site can review and print the book and access supporting resources, including videos and infographics.

The Community Schools Playbook includes:


Research for the Community Schools Playbook was conducted by the Learning Policy Institute, the National Education Policy Center, and Research for Action. The Community Schools Playbook was produced for the Partnership for the Future of Learning by the Public Leadership Institute in partnership with the Coalition for Community Schools.

Core operating support for the Learning Policy Institute is provided by the Ford Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the Sandler Foundation. Project support was provided by the Partnership for the Future of Learning.

The Community Schools Playbook is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.