The Coalition for Community Schools Announces the 2018 Leadership Award Winners

    WASHINGTON, DC, April 04, 2018 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The Coalition for Community Schools, an initiative of the Institute for Educational Leadership (IEL), is proud to present 10 leadership awards to community school leaders who have made explicit that only by working together and focusing on equity will all children learn and thrive. The Coalition will present national leadership awards to a youth, national partner, superintendent, initiative leader, coordinator, family and community advocates, and educators at the Community Schools National Forum on May 2-4, 2018 in Baltimore, Maryland. The Coalition will also honor a long-time community school supporter with the Joy Dryfoos Community School Lifetime Achievement Award.

"All of the leadership awardees have dedicated themselves to courageously bringing others together in responding to the unique needs of their neighborhood and community members," said José Muñoz, Director, Coalition for Community Schools. "As a result, children, youth, and adults are college, career, and civic-ready, going on to raise strong families and build healthier communities."

In an era dominated by our divisions, the selected awardees have partnered to work across boundaries of race, class, religion, institutions, disciplines, and programs to advance youth by bringing a multitude of services into schools and their communities. The awardees have partnered with local agencies to increase graduation and decrease chronic absenteeism rates, developed crisis response protocols, and created grassroots efforts to increase equity and engage families. Most importantly, all awardees have played a powerful role in the growth of community schools with their commitment to excellence.

Descriptions of the awardees are below. To learn more please visit Community Schools Leadership Awards Page.

Joy Dryfoos Community School Lifetime Achievement Award
William S. White, Chairman and CEO, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation (Flint, MI)
William S. White is chairman and chief executive officer of the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. Since 1935, the Foundation has been a major funder of community schools - first in its home community of Flint, Michigan, and ultimately in communities around the world. Mr. White has been an advocate for and supporter of the community school movement and related organizations and projects, including - over the past 20 years - the Coalition for Community Schools.

National Partner Award
National League of Cities (Washington, DC)
The National League of Cities (NLC) is dedicated to helping city leaders build better communities, working in partnership with 49 state municipal leagues, and serving as a resource and advocate for the more than 19,000 cities, villages, and towns it represents. NLC's Institute for Youth, Education, and Families has committed to continuously advocating for the growth of community schools and worked diligently with mayors to support their community school implementation.

Superintendent Leadership Award (Co-presented by AASA, The Schools Superintendent Association)
Dr. Matt Wayne, Superintendent, Hayward Unified School District (Hayward, CA)
Matt Wayne is the Superintendent of Hayward Unified School District. Dr. Wayne works to create deeper learning experiences, focusing on the whole child and meeting the diverse needs of students and families through the community school strategy. His dedication to partnering has increased graduation rates and lowered chronic absenteeism rates across the district. He also led the charge to pass a Sanctuary Schools resolution.

Community Schools Initiative Leadership Award
Jill Pereira, Vice President, Education, United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley (Allentown, PA)
Jill Pereira's leadership of the United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley's community school initiative has led to a significant growth from two schools with a $100,000 investment to 24 schools with a $6 million investment. Her work has also helped advance grade level reading across 125+ schools.

Community School Coordinator Leadership Award
Hallie J. Atwater, Community School Coordinator, Renaissance Academy High School (Baltimore, MD)
Hallie J. Atwater, LCSW-C, is a Community School Coordinator at Renaissance Academy High School through the Promise Heights initiative. Ms. Atwater has cultivated and developed over 40 school-community partnerships, focusing on LGBTQ issues, social justice, and violence prevention. Her commitment to equity and social justice has led her to lift up youth and family voices to successfully advocate to keep Renaissance open when it was threatened to be closed.

Youth Leadership Award (Sponsored by Under Armour)
Sarai Antoine, Student, Evans High School, A Community Partnership School (Orlando, FL)
Through the support of her community school, Sarai Antoine overcame difficult obstacles and turned her life around to become the leader she is today. Gaining leadership skills from her mentor, she became confident enough to join organizations like student government and the Student Leadership Council. Understanding the difficulty firsthand of being an immigrant to this country, Ms. Antoine also formed the first Haitian organization on campus, Club Kreole. One of her goals prior to graduation is to plan an empowerment summit for girls to address gender inequality.

Family and Community Advocate Award
Jitu Brown, National Director, Journey for Justice Alliance (Chicago, IL)
Jitu Brown is the National Director for the Journey for Justice Alliance, a network of over 40 grassroots community-based organizations in 31 cities organizing for community-driven school improvement. Mr. Brown has consistently used his influence and dedication to equity to advocate for community schools as the vehicle for change and is one of the leaders who has helped to raise community schools visibility to a national level.

Family and Community Advocate Award
Comunidad de Luz y Esperanza (Austin, TX)
Comunidad de Luz y Esperanza is a group of mothers from East Austin College Prep (EAPrep), proud and committed to helping EAPrep families and the communities throughout East Austin. Part of the Good Neighbor initiative from Southwest Key Programs and in strong partnership with EAPrep, Comunidad de Luz y Esperanza's grassroots and culturally responsive methods to increase equity and engage families has empowered parents to increase student achievement and build bridges across their community.

Educator Leadership Award
Clifford Hong, Principal, Roosevelt Middle School (Oakland, CA)
Clifford Hong has been the Principal of Roosevelt Middle School since 2010. Through his leadership and commitment to the community school strategy, Mr. Hong created a strong alignment between the school's academic program and community school partnerships. As a result, Roosevelt Middle School has made progress on academic, social-emotional, and civic outcomes, including lowering chronic absenteeism rate to 6.5%, and decreasing suspensions.

Educator Leadership Award
Deanna Hron, Teacher, King Elementary School (Deer River, MN)
Deanna Hron is an Elementary Teacher and President of the Deer River Education Association. A committed believer in the community schools strategy, Ms. Hron implements the whole child approach in her classroom and leads her school in social-emotional learning and data best practices. Ms. Hron has exemplified strong leadership in advocating for community schools, testifying before the Minnesota Senate Education Committee, and working with a small group of committed community members to pass a school referendum to build a building that houses a Boys and Girls Club, senior center, and early childhood center.

These awardees will be recognized at the 2018 Community Schools National Forum, where 2,000 community schools practitioners, families, youth, non-profit leaders, education leaders, policy makers, school leaders, and many others will gather to mobilize and build relationships to equitably advance education for all students.

About Coalition for Community Schools
The Coalition for Community Schools, an initiative of the Institute for Educational Leadership (IEL), is an alliance of national, state and local organizations in education K-16, youth development, community planning and development, higher education, family support, health and human services, government, and philanthropy, as well as national, state, and local community school networks. The Coalition advocates for community schools as a strategy to leverage local resources and programs, changing the look and feel of the traditional school structure to best meet the needs of children and families in the 21st century.

About the Institute for Educational Leadership
For a half-century, the Institute for Educational Leadership has championed the need for leaders at all levels to shake off their institutional constraints and work across boundaries to address the needs of young people and their families. Bound by no constituency, IEL serves as a catalyst that helps policymakers, administrators, and practitioners at all levels to bridge bureaucratic silos and undo gridlock to improve outcomes for all young people and their families. The work of IEL focuses on three pillars required for young people and their communities to succeed: involving the broader community with public education to support the learning and development of young people; building more effective pathways into the workforce for all young people and supporting the transition to adulthood; and preparing generations of leaders with the know-how to drive collaborative efforts at all levels.

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