With COVID-19 cases on the rise, families and schools across America face an extended period of educational disruption. Recent research illustrates the toll that this upheaval has had on our nation’s young people. In a nationally representative survey of high school students, one-third of young people reported being unhappy or depressed. Projections of learning loss on math and reading due to COVID-19 show that educational disruptions will likely result in negative effects, especially for students who were already behind. Low-income students and students of color, who have historically been poorly served by our education systems, are being hit particularly hard.

Yet perhaps one silver lining out of this crisis, as argued in the recent Brookings report “Beyond reopening schools: How education can emerge stronger than before COVID-19,” is the increasing recognition that transformation is urgently needed in the country’s schools. We know that children learn better when their physical and socio-emotional needs are met, when they can apply what they are learning to real-life situations, and when they have strong relationships with caring adults. The pandemic has unleashed the energies and contributions of a wide range of actors outside the school walls—from families to food banks to employers—who can be powerful education allies for supporting the holistic development of young people if we structure our education systems for partnership and collaboration. Harnessing this energy to promote whole-child development, especially through the scaling up of a community schools approach, is one way to tackle the growing education inequality.

In community schools, every family and community member is an asset that can be leveraged to build on students’ strengths, engage them as learners, and enable them to reach their full potential. The community schools movement has long envisioned schools as the hub of children’s education and development, powered by shared leadership between schools and families and strong partnerships between health, social welfare, employers, and other sectors.

Read the full article about community schools by Kristen Harper, Sarah Jonas, and Rebecca Winthrop at Brookings.