Baltimore Community Schools Are Success Story

By Dr. Marciene Mattleman

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Community schools are neighborhood schools - each bringing together an array of social services, government agencies and youth and family development groups that provide everything from academic and economic support to health care and enrichment activities to some of the country's poorest neighborhoods.

A network of forty-five schools plus three individual schools managed by The Family League of Baltimore in partnership with the School District and the Mayor's office have won national recognition.

They are credited with improving attendance, raising academic achievement, reducing the teenage pregnancy rate and increasing the number of students attending tutoring sessions and after school enrichment. The 22,000 kids enrolled live in the city's most underserved neighborhoods.

These schools were first responders recently at the time of racial unrest; schools became areas of safety and food hubs because grocery stores were shutdown.

Read more in Education Week.