The official grand opening of Evans full-service school in Pine Hills is not until August 2012, but already there’s lots of excitement and strong positive energy emanating from the community, says Charlene Sears-Tolbert, director of Central Florida’s first community school. Even those who don’t fully understand the community concept, just seeing the visible building rising out of the ground, there’s excitement that something new is going on at Evans.
Sears-Tolbert cites harder evidence of the growing excitement, pointing to increased parental involvement and greater student participation in after-school tutoring classes, services that are already being provided in anticipation of Evans’ community school opening.
A partnership between Children’s Home Society of Florida, the University of Central Florida (UCF) and Orange County Public Schools, Evans Community School, when fully operational, will provide a range of services, including medical, dental, social, cultural and academic enrichment, based on a model of extended relationships and extended hours. Adult education, after-school classes, and week-end programs are also important dimensions of the community school concept.
Last year, at most, 30 students participated in Evans’ after-school tutoring program, but since mid-September, 150 students have been attending for 2.5 hours, Mondays through Thursdays, said Sears-Tolbert.
“We have an incentive program, including a team building component, where students who attend after-school tutoring classes receive prizes,” she said. “And already we have been able to move the needle and help with learning gains. I am really proud of that effort.”
Parental involvement has been on the rise, too. This year, about 15-20 parents have been turning up to Parent-Teacher-Student Association (PTSA) meetings, a far cry from the couple who attended last year. But, Sears-Tolbert already knows this is a challenge that must be overcome — significantly boosting parental involvement, a central tenet of successful community schools.
“Historically, Evans has been challenged with regard to parental involvement and so, recently a Parental Coordinator was hired to assist with engaging and reaching out to parents,” she said. “In these tough economic times, where parents might be working two and three jobs, we have to think creatively and outside the box on how to engage with and where we meet them.”
Sears-Tolbert sees this as part of her role as the Community School Director. Since taking up the position in January earlier this year, she has spent a lot of time in the Pine Hills and surrounding communities, talking and listening to community and church leaders, business owners, going to various apartment complexes to meet parents, and more generally getting a pulse on the community. She is quite clear that turning Evans High into a successful community school will rest, in no small measure on meeting the needs and requirements of the community, as defined by its residents.
In this connection, UCF has played a major role. Sears-Tolbers says that, when she came on board, the University was conducting a full needs assessment and she was a part of the focus groups with students, parents and the community, and heard first hand the communities’ requirements of the new school. In addition, a diverse Community Leadership Council, has been formed. Chaired by Pastor Frank Thompson of The Worship Center, and comprised of religious leaders, business owners, community-based organizations and concerned citizens, the Council meets monthly and serves as the ‘eyes and ears’ of the community, providing input into the community school’s evolution.
We are being “real intentional” in making sure that all programs and services are based on needs, she said. Needs based programming and more focus groups will continue to be convened, in order to determine how students could most benefit from the services to be provided.
“One of the things that repeatedly kept coming up was the need for tutoring for students–academic support, as well as, after-school programming,” said Sears-Tolbert. “Adult education classes–GED, literacy programs and English language teaching were all recurring themes.” The community, including Evans High, has a strong Haitian population, she added.
Several other programs are being contemplated, for example, a culinary certification program, but no decision has yet been made on what precisely the new community school would offer. The primary focus will continue to be on academic outcomes for students and determining ways to help them achieve that goal, whether it is through after-school programming, mentoring, health and social services, and parental involvement — all vital for ensuring that children are physically, emotionally and socially prepared to learn, Sears-Tolbert said.
With 25 years experience working at the community level in the social services field, Sears-Tolbert knows the entire community must be engaged if success is to be attained.
“It takes a whole village and we are in this together,” a determined and passionate Sears-Tolbert said. “We need the support of the entire community in order for this to be successful. The community should know we are here and we want to know how best we can serve them.”
As Sears-Tolbert, an alumuni of Evans High, is giving back and helping to transform the lives of people, the school recently hired a public ally whose primary focus is to reach out and garner the support of the more than 50 years of alumuni, a resource which to date, has remained largely untapped.
A soft opening of Evans Community School is planned for January 2012, when the nearly 2,000 student body, currently in temporary accommodations, moves into the new Evans High School on Silver Star Road.
