Schools in urban areas often have more community partnership opportunities than they can effectively manage. Even in smaller or rural communities where a network of partners is not readily apparent, however, there are most likely many potential high-quality partners who can reinforce the school’s instructional focus or meet student needs in other ways. Emily Raine, manager of the Massachusetts expanded learning time initiative for Massachusetts 2020, advises schools to ask questions such as: Where have the teachers found excellent content on one-time field trips? Is there a university or other institution that comes in for one-time workshops that could evolve into an ongoing, deeper relationship? Who are the existing OST providers in the community?
Said Raine: “One of our biggest successes has been working with smaller schools and districts beyond greater Boston who three years ago said they couldn’t find any partners and had no intent to partner. Now these schools have some of the strongest partnerships.”
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