Connecting Schools & Communities

Schools and the larger community collaborate in many different ways. In Wisconsin, some of the most common partnerships are listed below.

• Community schools strengthen both education and the community by bringing community expertise and services into the school;
• Community education programs offer optional, outside-of-school classes for students and adults; 
• 21st Century Community Learning Centers are federally-funded before, after, and summer school programs that provide PK-12 students with academic enrichment as well as other programming and services in school or community-based settings.

Around Wisconsin, educators and community members often engage in collaborations without an official name. Community partnerships are a key component of efforts such as career and technical education (CTE), four-year-old kindergarten community approaches (4KCA), and service-learning. From work-based learning at a local business to contributing academically or culturally in the classroom, there are many ways communities make valuable contributions to virtually every subject area in our students’ education.