Society asks a lot of our schools, not only educating, but in meeting a wide array of children’s developmental needs. Over the years, community expectations for schools to address cognitive, physical, emotional, and social needs of children have increased. In the more recent years of No Child Left Behind, public schools have been subject to federal pressure to narrow their focus to student achievement, as measured by standardized tests. Schools are working to raise test scores and if they partner with community-based organizations and reclaim a broader vision, they need not work alone. There is growing evidence that bringing the school and the community closer together improves learning for all students.

“The number of volunteers in the school has increased. The community perception of volunteers being welcomed in the school has changed. Now volunteers are encouraged, recruited, and greeted.” --Jackie Mavencamp, Principal       Stevensville Elementary

Schools, on their own, may lack the necessary resources to address the large number of obstacles to learning that many minority and poor students confront on a daily basis. Schorr (1997) argued, "Schools can become islands of hope in otherwise devastated neighborhoods. When schools and communities work together, to give poor children the supports typically enjoyed by children in middle-class neighborhoods, they help children avoid a culture of failure" (Schorr 1997 p. 289). Family and community members can contribute extensively to the work of the school, to the planning and implementation of curricular and extracurricular activities that enhance learning, and to the infusion of the culture of students and families within the school (Brewster & Railsback, 2003; Ferguson et al., 2001; Henderson & Mapp, 2002).

A thought provoking fact: As educational researcher Herbert Walbert points out, a student who has perfect attendance throughout twelve years of schooling will spend just 13% of that time in a school. The rest of that time – 87% – is spent learning outside the classroom. Faced with these proportions, it becomes clear that students’ success relies on strong partnerships between homes, schools, and communities.

WORD’s Family Resource Centers Program offers assistance to schools in strengthening positive working relationships between parents, educators, and community members for the benefit of the students. We partner with schools to develop school-based Family Resource Centers where positive relationships can grow. Through the Literacy Support Corps, an AmeriCorps Program directed by WORD, we offer schools a full-time staffing resource to develop your Family Resource Center.

We recognize that each school community is unique with its own set of challenges and strengths. In many schools, space is at a premium. The location of a Family Resource Center, within a school, is quite flexible and adaptable. In the real estate business they say three words are of critical importance, “Location, Location, Location.” In developing parent, community, and educator partnerships through Family Resource Centers, there are three words of critical importance, “Relationship, Relationship, Relationship.” Centers can flourish in large, small, and shared spaces. There are no two identical Family Resource Centers.

"Our partnerships between educators and parents are greatly strengthened by the attention to detail that our Family Resource Center affords our school. Educators are constantly struggling with school year schedules and the particular needs of the learning styles of students, and time to organize and carry out parental involvement activities is limited. Through the use of our Family Resource Center to facilitate and establish meaningful, personal contact with our families, and to carry the responsibility for planning our family activities, our teachers have more time to converse with families at school functions and to gain a greater understanding of the challenges facing our students at school and at home.” --Karen Allen, Principal       Lewis & Clark Elementary School, MSLA

Schools agree to:

• Provide a space within the school designated as the Family Resource Center, where parents and community members are welcome. A wide variety of spaces meet this need, however the more it resembles a “living room” and the less it resembles an “office” the more effective it will be.
• Provide the Literacy Support Corps member with access to a telephone, computer, email, and basic supplies.

• Invite a school staff member (i.e. Teacher, Title 1 staff, counselor) to mentor the Literacy Support Corps member in acclimating to the school culture and to assist with program planning.
• Provide supervision (building principal) of the member, jointly, with WORD Family Resource Centers Program staff.
• Facilitate member orientation to the school and inclusion in appropriate staff meetings.
• Complete two program reports per school year, including member performance evaluation.
• Provide a $5,500 cash match to support the Literacy Support Corps member’s living stipend and benefits (WORD supplies $8,057 for a combined total cost of $13,557 for each member for the 2008-2009 school year).

WORD agrees to:

• Recruit, screen, interview, and recommend placement of Literacy Support Corps member (final interview and selection is made by school administration).
• Administer all AmeriCorps grant requirements including member personnel records, payroll, and benefits.
• Provide member orientation to program and scheduled training to members in areas vital to program development, such as family literacy, community building, parent involvement, volunteer management, and resource and referral.
• Provide workshops and learning opportunities for parents, school staff, and community members through MPIRC – Montana Parent Information Center, a program of WORD funded by the Department of Education.
• Provide regular site visits to monitor and provide “hands-on” technical assistance to program development.
• Supply $8,057 toward the total cost per member of $13,557.

WORD’s Literacy Support Corps members assist in the coordination of day-to-day operations of school-based Family Resource Centers. They assist school staff by connecting with parents and providing information and tools for parents to empower themselves in support of children’s education. They plan and facilitate literacy-based, parent-child learning activities within schools, and they recruit volunteers from within the school population and the surrounding community to partner in planning and facilitating ongoing programs for parents and students. More than a managing a space, or a program, Literacy Support Corps members engage school communities in a process where people learn from each other, find support, create solutions, and gradually discover new capabilities within networks of trusting relationships.

We look forward to partnering with your school to develop the supportive community your students need and deserve.

"I can not say enough good things about the impact of the Family Resource Center during this first year... Several innovative activities have been implemented, which resulted in more frequent and sustained parental involvement. "The Family Resource Center has been instrumental in designing, developing and implementing activities to engage parents of older students in school and improve communication between families and school, and between families and their children. "Thanks for all of your efforts in assisting with the development of the Family Resource Center at Florence- Carlton Middle School." -- Mark Neill., Principal      Florence-Carlton Middle School