Create Support Systems- Become the Heart of the Community

If we hoped to pull Nettelhorst out of its twenty-five year nose-dive, the school desperately needed to leverage every ounce of its limited power. What could an underutilized, underperforming public elementary school possibly offer the marketplace? Nettelhorst could offer space in a densely packed urban setting, market access to students and potentially to neighborhood families, and possible media exposure. Nettelhorst could not offer much in the way of capital, supervision, support services, oversight, or security. With these two assumptions in place, we looked beyond the traditional schoolhouse model, and started to dream big.

Step one: we took our dog and pony show on the road—chambers of commerce, civic groups, neighborhood associations, religious institutions, cultural organizations, condo and co-op boards, and local businesses—any group that would have us. Everywhere we went, we invited neighbors to bring their energy into the school. By hosting neighborhood events at the school, we could hand-deliver thousands of postcards to neighborhood businesses, churches, synagogues, parks, and even, local private and parochial schools, thereby subtly marketing to prospective parents. Nettelhorst became a go-to destination: Halloween Hooplas, Little Bunny Egg Hunts, Pet Fests, Safety Days, peace protests, the Chicago Marathon, the Gay Pride Parade, ice cream socials, theater and concerts, community dances, the Lakeview East Fine Arts Festival, as well as a weekly events, like a Story Time by the neighborhood bookstore, an open Toddler Gym, and a French Farmers’ Market (pictured). In no time flat, Nettelhorst was the heart of the community.

Through trial and error, our special events team learned some key lessons:

• Partner-up. Our school found it too taxing to be the sole sponsor of community events.
• Make sure all the key stakeholders needed are on board. Ask local politicians for reinforcement when necessary.
• Tried-and-true, child-centered, holiday events are an easy sell.
• The schoolhouse environment can’t provide the social comforts that adults require to really cut-loose.
• Really think through logistical and practical considerations (crowd control, garbage, etc.)
• Be realistic about what the school can and cannot deliver.
• With advance planning, lots of organizations offer volunteers to help staff events (like Onebrick.org)
• Entice teachers and staff to come to events with complementary tickets.
• By summer, parent volunteers will be tired and tapped out.
• If a third party wants to host an adult-centered event that’s strategically aligned with your mission and the neighborhood’s zeitgeist, say YES!
• Hustle PR for every event—if a tree falls in the forest…

Becoming a Community School

Problem: How can a struggling public school bring in arts, culture and sports when it doesn’t have any resources?

Solution: We relentlessly pursued anyone who might be willing to bring their expertise to the school, and then capitalized on market forces to turn these relationships into deep, mutually beneficial partnerships.

Action: We asked all the best institutions in Chicago to partner with us, inviting them to come in and teach their regular classes at the school. Providers could charge students their usual rates and cancel any class that didn’t meet their self-determined minimum enrollment, while enjoying free rent, marketing, and utilities. The school asked only two things in return: one, partners had to offer scholarships to students; and two, they had to contribute a nominal amount to the school’s regular curricular day (to be mutually determined). Local businesses could expand their client base, without incurring any additional risk or overhead. Nettelhorst then partnered with a local not-for-profit to manage this cultural medusa.

While our community school concept looked great on paper, transforming our dream into reality was a bracing endeavor. As we navigated countless mind-numbing logistical issues and gut-wrenching emotional battles, five guiding principles emerged:

• Nettelhorst was a public elementary school that needed to serve its own students.
• Nettelhorst students needed to show as much respect to the community school partners as they would to their regular teachers.
• The school needed to respect partners by being professional.
• Not every partner would turn out to be the best fit. Be prepared to part ways.
• All partners were signing up to be part of Nettelhorst’s new zeitgeist.

All our hard work paid off: today, our after-school program, Jane’s Place at Nettelhorst, oversees thirty plus enrichment providers, servicing almost three hundred kids after school, every single day. How’s that for freeing the soccer mom? Your school can become a community school, too! See CommunitySchools.org.

Our success hinged on our principal. Susan was willing to open Nettelhorst’s doors to anyone who offered the greater school community something of value. It was this welcoming spirit that enabled a farmers’ market, a series of neighborhood events, and many innovative community school partnerships. Ultimately, we moms could have done somersaults until the end of time to bring prospective parents to Nettelhorst’s front door, but it all would have been for naught had the school refused to open it.

Editor’s Note This is a followup article to Jacqueline’s earlier posts: A Neighborhood Renaissance, How to Get Involved to Improve Your Child’s School, and How Enticing is Your Neighborhood School? Create Some Chemistry

Her book, How to Walk to School, can be purchased at the Mamapedia Store on Amazon.com. You can also see CSPAN’s Book TV recording of Jacqueline’s recent appearance."