1. Welcome from Julie Brenning, Community Schools Director at NMPED
2. Enos Garcia Elementary School and Partners Work Together to Meet Basic Needs
3. Cuba Independent School District Collaborates with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation
4. NMPED Announcements
5. NEA-NM Center for Community Schools Professional Learning Opportunities
6. Community Schools in the News
7. Featured Coordinator: Lucia V. Carmona of Raices del Saber Xinachtli Community School

Community schools is growing across New Mexico - from Cuba to Taos to Santa Fe to Las Cruces – and the community school strategy is changing lives and building the groundwork for whole school transformation. My name is Julie Brenning and I am excited to be a part of this development of Community Schools across the state as the new NMPED Community Schools Director. I have participated with Community Schools at the site-based level in several high schools in Albuquerque. I have also worked on national best practice and research for Community Schools. My core values are collaborative leadership, innovation, and heart. I hope we can work together as we lift students in community schools across the state.

I am excited about the collaborative effort to launch the ECHO sessions this year. The date/time and content of the ECHO sessions was chosen by you in a Community Schools practitioners survey. It will be held every other Thursday at 2 p.m. I am also taking comment and welcoming review as we redevelop the NMPED Community Schools grant application and process. I hope to make it user-friendly and smooth to ensure funds come to your schools. Future work includes building technical assistance and support so that every school can succeed.

I believe in the work of Community Schools. I believe in each practitioner’s abilities and talents to bring the Community Schools strategy to fruition. I believe that if we work together we can bring about this important transformation in our schools.

Please contact me any time so I can support your work.

Update your Community School's contact info here.

Julie Brenning

C: 505-795-5526

Julie.Brenning@ped.nm.gov

A refrigerator may seem like a simple thing, but for Enos Garcia Elementary School in Taos it has made all the difference as they try to meet the nutrition needs of their students, families, and community this winter. When The Food Depot, a Santa Fe based food bank, reached out to the Community School in October 2022 about piloting a school-based food pantry, CS Coordinator Paula Oxoby-Hayett jumped on the chance. In the past, the school relied on irregular food donations to support food insecure students and families. Because of a lack of cold storage, each time food came in volunteers would jump into action to distribute everything immediately, preparing standardized grocery packages for families. “The fridge has been great, because it’s really created a moment to breathe. Families can come when it's convenient to them, instead of when donations come in, and they can really shop for what they need and what they know their family will eat,” says Oxoby-Hayett. And come they have, with over 125 individuals per month served by the Community School’s food pantry since November.

Once on-site, families don’t just have access to groceries from the school’s pantry; they are given information about other local food banks, like the Saint James Episcopal Church, Mi Pueblito, and the Giving Tree, and encouraged to check out the school’s clothing bank and free school supplies. “It’s a great way to build relationships with families, we get to sit on the couch and talk to them when they come in,” continues Oxoby-Hayett. Building relationships helps school staff to identify student and family needs and refer them to all the resources and supports that the school and its partners, like the nearby First Presbyterian Church, can provide. “Faith based organizations like First Presbyterian Church and New Beginnings have been wonderful to us. They are incredibly responsive partners; when we identify a need, they mobilize their resources for us in no time,” Oxoby-Hayett adds.

Another key partner for the Community School has been the Taos Behavioral Health Nurturing Center, which was housed at Enos Garcia even before it became a Community School. The Nurturing Center provides students with school-based services such as Social and Emotional Support, Connection to Counseling services and other community services and activities focused on building positive relationships. After identifying student and family needs through conversations with students in class and at lunch, the Nurturing Center comes together with the Community Schools Coordinator and other school staff to make referrals, provide tailored services, and line up financial and material support for families like help with bills or even car parts!

The newest pilot project at the school is the Sparkle Fund, which aims to help students with a specific passion or interest to access programs or classes that will help them improve and grow. For example, if a student loves to draw but cannot afford art classes, the Sparkle Fund would allow them to participate. The school is currently seeking additional funding to ensure the sustainability of this fund going forward.

Contributed by Rachel Padilla, Grant Writer at NEA-NM, in collaboration with Paula Oxoby-Hayett.

Cuba Independent School District is elevating student voice in school decisions to improve and expand dual language programs and educational activities and develop food systems to provide healthy meals and impact educational outcomes for children.

In 2022, The W.K. Kellogg Foundation awarded an $150,000 grant to Cuba ISD to fund the following programs:

• Student Voice Initiatives
• Community Evaluation Work
• Student Internships
• Food Justice/Equity Education
• Establishing CIAD Farm to Table/Food Co-Op
• Sustainability Education (farm to table: water and alternatives to traditional greenhouses, new composting technologies)

The University of Colorado Boulder was contracted to support CISD students through curriculum design, provision of dual credit opportunities for students, and high-level/targeted on-site instruction and evaluation strategies.

Check out the short documentary above to learn more about the grant-funded activities and all of the work that is being done in CISD to support the success and wellbeing of students.

"We feel that we have successfully captured a picture of our school district's status, challenges, beauty, and potential by creating this real-life documentary. Part of what we wanted to do is create a documentary that is data (in a visual and of the true people’s lens). We feel that we have successfully completed this task," says CISD leadership.

Contributed by Cindy Solis, Lead Quality Management Consultant at 21st Century Community Learning Centers, in collaboration with CISD.

The NMPED Grant Application and Process is undergoing a full redevelopment.

The application should be out this spring along with updates on the process. Contact Julie Brenning, NMPED Community Schools Director, at julie.brenning@ped.nm.gov if you would like to be on the review team for the new application.

ECHO Sessions for technical assistance for Community Schools will begin again this February.

Sessions are open to all CS practitioners, including site-based leadership team members, and anyone in the community who wants to learn more about CS. The first two sessions will be: “Updates and the Future of Community Schools in New Mexico” and “The New 6 Key Practices of Community Schools.”

Access the meetings at this Zoom link:

https://echo.zoom.us/j/94656916961?pwd=Z0ZHaUwxS2lldWd2ejc0WWNKcFVBUT09

Download the files below for a list of upcoming session dates and topics.

NMPED announces its new tutoring service in partnership with Paper that focuses on mathematics, language arts and science. The program offers students in grades preK-8 from New Mexico Title I Schools access to free academic support from tutors on a secure platform. Participating students will receive 20 hours of tutoring at no cost to families.

Features include:

• Virtual tutoring.
• Can be scheduled before, after or during school.
• All learning abilities.

Parents can sign students up here. Questions? OutofSchool.Tutoring@ped.nm.gov

This learning opportunity will explore using inquiry to design linguistically and culturally relevant content that encourages creativity and inspires curiosity that builds upon students' innate genius and talents.

Date: February 8

Time: 4:30-6 p.m.MT

Virtual meeting

Registration here or visit bit.ly/3X3J0tF

This three part learning event is for educators in years 1-5 of their career, all education assistants, and instructional coaches/mentors. Cornelius Minor, of the Minor Collective, will facilitate this incredible learning opportunity. Registration for this series includes your copy of We Got This by Cornelius Minor and the online learning sessions. Participants present at the sessions will also be entered into prize drawings.

Date: February 22

Time: 4:30 - 6 p.m. MT

Virtual Meeting

Registration here

Three New Mexico Community School initiatives – Albuquerque, Las Cruces, and Taos – were awarded five-year, $2.5 million Full-Service Community Schools grants from the U.S. Department of Education.

Congratulations!

Why did you get into the position of Community School Coordinator (CSC)?

It was a natural path for me to become the CS Coordinator of our school. My main position is Director of Operations and Community Engagement, and my experience for more than 20 years as community organizer, gives me the opportunity to serve this time at our school this way. In partnering with our Concilio de Padres (Parents Council), Staff, Governance Board, and community partners, we were able to put together a Strategic Plan.

Share a success that you have had as a CSC.

Our first and most potent platform I was able to establish with the collaboration of some parents and their natural leadership is the Concilio de Padres/Parents Council. All parents at our school are members of this concilio. We decided to strengthen parents' participation by forming an Executive Committee of the Concilio and volunteers representing their classrooms. It created a dynamic of communication and engagement, providing a space where parents' voice and participation as part of the decision-making body empower our families promoting an active and long-term commitment.

What is one of the most interesting partnerships that you have brought to your school?

In collaboration with the Children’s Reading Alliance (CRA), we were able to establish what we call “Escuela para Padres”/ “School for Parents.” The CRA started to offer our parents a curriculum they called “First Teacher” under the slogan “Parents are the First Teachers at Home.” Parents receive instruction on reading to their children at home and learn strategies to support their learning abilities. These courses are delivered in English and Spanish. After the first round of lessons, parents were wondering if the school could provide English and Spanish language classes. Our school is bilingual, and this idea brought big expectations to monolingual parents, either in English or Spanish. Our Escuela de Padres/School for Parents is now, thanks to the Community Support Initiative grant, able to contract instructors to provide English and Spanish language classes. Now we are contemplating expanding to other types of instruction needs.

Name one initiative that you would like to bring to your school, and discuss why it is important.

My vision for the upcoming years is to dedicate a space specifically for our families and community, where we continue implementing school for parents, other learning opportunities, and planning cultural events. From this unit will emerge what I call the annual “Spring Xinachtli Parent and Family Engagement Summit” -Walking and Growing With my Child/Caminando y Creciendo Con mi Hijo(a). We will invite our partners and local charter schools to help us to provide families a morning with opportunities like exchanging parenting experiences, other learning opportunities, workshops, key-note speakers to inspire families, cultural activities, free bilingual books, door prizes, and – while our parents are participating in this beautiful event – childcare support. The primary purpose will be "To Advance Family Awareness and Collaborative Leadership between Parents, Teachers, Partners, Students, and the community for Success in School and Life."

Share something else about your role as a CS Coordinator.

Being in direct contact with all families in school allows me to provide input to our teachers from another perspective to contribute to the academic area. For instance, sometimes teachers are unaware of the suddenly changing situations a family is experiencing. Because of this, the student is experiencing stressful emotions that prevent them from learning or contribute to them constantly missing class. Another role is promoting a space of collaboration between teachers, staff members, and parents to come together to enhance the uniqueness we offer as a charter school and create the foundation for sustainable strategies.