Foster City Islander Article - 05-09-2007
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Charter Public |
Phyllis Moore, President, Foster City High School Foundation |
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Community Schools Are More than Just Schools
On April 30th, three developers presented their design concepts for the 15-acre Civic Center site, which includes our planned public high school. The Foster City High School Foundation strongly encouraged each developer to creatively integrate the school into the overall development, reflecting the major national trend of building “community schools” that, “¼fully integrate educational programs, as well as their architecture, with the downtown neighborhood” (from New Schools – Better Neighborhoods, www.nsbn.org).
Our planned high school will be just such a community school. By its physical integration into the other buildings in the development, the school will optimize the use of scarce and expensive land. Just as importantly, the school also will integrate its educational program into the community by partnering with local businesses and other organizations, providing students with the real world experiences they need to succeed in school, work and life. At the same time, the school will give back to the community by offering a range of adult educational opportunities, such as Adult Education, Community College and University courses.
An insightful study, entitled New Schools for Older Neighborhoods, from the Local Government Commission highlights this major national trend of Community Schools: “All over the U.S., educators and community leaders are advocating community schools—ones that not only educate children, but meet other needs as well. Joint community use of school facilities is cost-effective, promotes community support of schools, and maximizes an expensive community asset—our schools.”
An influential study by the Center for School Change confirms the importance of this national trend. Successful Schools concludes that, “Schools that share facilities with other organizations offer broader learning opportunities for students, high quality services to students and their families, higher student achievement and better graduation rates, and a way to stretch and make more efficient use of tax dollars.”
Our public high school will be more than just a school. It will benefit from our community and the community will benefit from our high school. As a vital educational center, it will provide a range of educational opportunities for all adults, offer a new and needed educational choice for our young people, boost property values for every homeowner and enhance the image of our unique city.
Contact me at phyllismoore1@comcast.net or 650-349-5676
