Partnerships Toolkit
A LETTER FROM THE DCPS PARTNERSHIPS TEAM
Dear Partners and School Leaders,
Here you will find the School Partnership Toolkit, a refreshed resource from the DCPS Partnerships Team designed to help build strong partnerships in support of students’ academic and social-
emotional development. DCPS values our community partners and knows that effective school-community partnerships are key to providing students with the range of opportunities they need and deserve to be successful.
DCPS leaders believe in the transformative power of school-community collaboration, and this core belief is reflected in the Capital Commitment, the latest iteration of DCPS’ five-year strategic plan. The plan is grounded in our Equity Imperative, and its success is rooted in our ability to serve our students furthest from opportunity. The work is guided by three strategic priority areas: succeeding academically, connected to school, and prepared for what’s next.
But we know that building deep and impactful partnerships is not easy, so it is our hope that the School Partnership Toolkit is a first step in helping to grow school leader and partner capacity to effectively work together in support of DCPS students. Thank you for your continued commitment to the DCPS community, we look forward to the work ahead!
Sincerely, The DCPS Partnerships Team
Sharing Space
School space can be limited but partners often require consistent access to space for storage, programming, and planning to execute their programs successfully. The best practices and resources below aim to support schools and partners in determining which spaces will be available to partners and how to best use that space to the satisfaction of both the partner and the school.
Finding the Right Match
High-quality partnerships can be transformative but they require intentional time and effort to develop and maintain. School and partner leaders need to invest time on the front end of relationship-building to ensure that a partner’s offering matches the school’s needs and that the school can provide the supports the partner needs to be successful.
Culture and Inclusion
Partners are most successful when they feel included in the school community and can align with its cultural norms. Meaningfully integrating partners into the school community also helps program leaders align their offerings with relevant curriculum or classroom management structures used during the school day. The best practices and resources below support school leaders and partners in their efforts to align cultural norms, ensure that partner staff and volunteers feel like a part of the larger school community, and promote cohesion between in-school and out-of-school programming.
Setting Goals and Tracking Progress
The most impactful school partnerships are intentional and informed by data to ensure strategic alignment between schools and programs. The best practices and resources below focus on supporting school and program leader goal setting and progress monitoring efforts.
Communication
Successful partnerships require regular, proactive communication from both school leaders and partners. The best practices and resources below support the establishment of communication norms to ensure that matters related to the partnership are given proper attention, especially as school leaders work to balance competing priorities.