Pittsburgh Community Schools: Keys to Success and a Sneak Peek at Our Future Wins

Three entities—the district, Communities in Schools, and Homeward Children’s Village—have coordinated the city’s programs. The result has been a patchwork of approaches, partnerships and wraparound services. This past school year, we put a lot in place! This is the first time the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers has seen multiple stakeholders come together around a coherent strategy and a shared vision for implementation. I want to share insights regarding some of the elements of this turning point and my excitement for what’s to come.

Collaborative leadership is key to success in Pittsburgh community schools.

PPS has cycled through a few district-level community schools coordinators; the role is meant to bring together the school level coordinators, who spend most of their time in buildings. In the 2023-24 school year, the district welcomed back a PPS graduate, LeAna Creighton, as the new community schools director. Her connection to the area and stellar communication skills have been game-changing. 

The Ohio, Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers crisscross Pittsburgh, carving out distinct neighborhoods and enclaves. Creighton is especially familiar with one section; our union leadership intimately knows another. Through open dialogue, she and I have learned each other’s separate strengths and gotten good at combining them for powerful planning. Together, we have set a vision for how PPS can strengthen existing community schools like mine, address more facets of children’s health, and scale to more sites.

Union funds are key to growing Pittsburgh community schools.

Since 2009, the AFT has made investments in local union affiliates across the country, with the purpose of identifying, nurturing and promoting union-led innovations in public education to improve teaching and learning and to invest in the communities where our members live and work. PFT received over $30,000 for our community schools’ work and we have been creative with our monies for a great year!

First, PFT sponsored a bus trip with administrators, community schools site coordinators, and teachers. Twenty-five stakeholders traveled over 100 miles to the edge of Lake Erie to see another Pennsylvania district’s community schools in action. We spent a full day with the superintendent of Erie Public Schools, which also began its community schools work in 2016. As we visited sites, we discussed the nitty-gritty details of sharing control over after-school programming, working with local funders, and family engagement. I was delighted to gather new ideas that their community schools might adopt or adapt like “read with the dog” and “clothes closets.” Ultimately, the tour helped galvanize our Pittsburgh educators.

Second, PFT brought a small group to the AFT Community Schools Intensive. As part of its goal to grow community schools to 2,500 by 2025, the AFT brings together labor-management-community partners each year. AFT staff members coordinate sessions to guide groups in brainstorming, goal-setting and relationship-building. Then the teams coalesce again to attend the Coalition for Community Schools’ National Conference. PFT invited all new people to the 2024 Intensive, including director Creighton, school-level coordinators and three teachers. I’m pleased with our team’s follow-through; we’ve already met again to continue to build momentum for the next school year.

Finally, PFT hosted “Chat and Chews” to convene school level coordinators with rank-and-file educators in their buildings. Some of the district’s designated schools have had so many changes—in principals, coordinators and other administrative positions—that the leaders have lost a sense of what the model can achieve or have inherited “community school” as a buzzword without knowing their part in how to make it a reality. We used part of our AFT grant to cover meals during which staff strengthened communication for buy-in at the school. PFT members can best support kids and parents when they know what to do and what resources they have at their school.

Pittsburgh community schools depend on strong relationships.

Like the PFT, LeAna Creighton appreciates that working in a community school does not automatically mean full understanding of all its resources or levers to support students and families. In addition to working well with me on behalf of the union, the new director is the first person in her role to orient teachers in each of the nine community schools and to coordinate effective onboarding for all new leaders. These efforts, in combination with PFT’s “Chat and Chews,” are repairing rifts.

Creighton is trying to shore up the district-level steering committee, too. Starting in the 2024-25 school year, the group will focus on “Parent, student and community engagement in assessing student and community needs, planning the community school, and ongoing oversight of implementation and evaluation.”^[2] To make our work sustainable, steering committee members—including district officials, PFT representatives, parents, students and local organizations—will break into smaller working groups to focus energy on target areas and suggest changes for the larger group to consider. For example, the mayor’s office welcomed a new education adviser last year. The steering committee is trying to consistently connect so that the city’s leadership understands all the nuances underway in the district.

As PFT’s vice president, I coordinate a parallel task force. Each month, the union invites members to talk with one another, including about what the model means for after-school programming and family engagement. Our members routinely inquire about how and when the district might increase its community schools footprint. With scaling up in mind, PFT has recently committed more leaders to the task force, including an elected paraprofessional and our newly elected president. By expanding the union’s commitment, we hope to model the networking necessary for districtwide growth.

Finally, PFT is taking advantage of connections to national experts to streamline local dialogue. Through AFT’s partner, the Netter Center, we have connected with Krishna Patel and the Health and Education Alliance. HEA is passionate about building and scaling family-centered community schools through sustainable school financing strategies, especially through securing underutilized federal funds for children’s health initiatives. After proving its organizational concept here in Pittsburgh, HEA secured $150,000 to develop community school strategies with a focus on empowering students with special needs and their families. We are excited to work with HEA and district leadership to develop and scale opportunities for reinvestment in community schools. 

Thanks to all I’ve described—collaborative leadership, union funds and strong relationships— Pittsburgh Public Schools is poised to celebrate a decade of commitment to the community schools strategy. To close, I want to look forward to what I think we’ll achieve and win next.

Soon, I anticipate that Pittsburgh will tighten up data collection to prove what works in our community schools.

We conducted an informal needs assessment last year. Since then, we’ve changed union presidents, and the district hired Creighton. We’ve accomplished a lot, and we need to more deliberately document those successes. New data will help us prove the concept of Pittsburgh community schools and support PPS in designating additional buildings.

In addition to the formal assessments that convince policymakers, we’re thinking about using our AFT grant to develop simple but effective messaging for PFT teachers that explains and celebrates the successful labor-management work we’re undertaking with Pittsburgh Public Schools. Sometimes the union and district disagree, but we’re in lockstep on strategic partnering in community schools, and we want our members to know that.

We’ll get even better at creative problem-solving to align programs with needs assessments.

The group that we took to Erie is interested in adding a clothes closet to every community school. We want to start a program to put food and snacks in backpacks at the end of every week. We aim to expand our partnership with a dental healthcare provider that provides 30-minute visits on site so our students minimize time outside of class; this year, I know of at least one student who was so excited to receive a toothbrush. That’s the kind of joy for dental hygiene that I want to spread! 

Pittsburgh will be an innovator in identifying consistent funding streams.

Each school community is distinct, and not every school has the same needs—programmatically or financially. Thankfully, we know we can call on AFT national staff and savvy partner organizations. In Pittsburgh, the Health and Education Alliance has already helped the district see that Medicaid in schools can be a powerful policy lever to support children’s health. 

As we move forward, I’m excited to reconvene with HEA and the district to build partnerships that align with our shared missions. For instance, a local provider, Vision to Learn, is eager to offer eyecare support, and HEA has secured funding for it to sustain operations. We will be able to count on HEA’s analysis and strength at blending and braiding funding streams to ensure long-lasting mental health, special education and other services. As a union leader, I also want to be clear that we head into new initiatives with shared expectations of good-faith spending, sustainability and fiscal accountability.

Citations:
[1]A. Melaville. (2002). Community Schools: Partnerships for Excellence. Washington, D.C.: Coalition for Community Schools. Retrieved from files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED464425.pdf.
[2] School District of Pittsburgh. (2016). Community Schools Policy.