Anaheim Union High School District defines community schools as, “a safe place at the heart of a community where students, staff and families are connected and work together to expand opportunities and address the needs of the whole child so that all students can thrive and realize their ultimate potential.” The notion of shared and inclusive leadership is embedded in the definition of community schools. 

As a community school teacher leader at my site, I embrace this approach as a way of being both in and out of the classroom. I believe that it is crucial for adults, especially those in traditional positions of power, to share that power with students and families. By doing so, we create the conditions necessary for all students, and by extension their families and communities, to thrive.

The concept of shared leadership in community schools

In the community schools model, community partners play a vital role in meeting the needs of the whole child. However, we must go beyond superficial collaboration among community partners and school districts. When we leave educational partners out of the decision making process, we lose out on the expertise of our community members and we  take a step backward in building community and belonging. True shared leadership must occur at all levels, ensuring that every educational partner—students, families, educators, and community partners—has a meaningful role in decision-making about school policies, curriculum, and distribution of resources. 

Laying the foundation: Mutual trust and knowing your community

Our work begins with recognizing the whole child and getting to know the stories of our students and their community.  A motto I heard repeatedly during my first year as a Community School Teacher Lead was: “Go slow to go fast.” Take the time to build meaningful relationships, which is essential in community school work.

At the beginning of last school year, I worked closely with our Community School Coordinator, our Family and Community Engagement Specialist and parents to develop a script for a Community Reflective Learning Walk informed by both satellite and street data. All of the staff at my school site boarded a bus and we drove through the community to deepen our understanding of the challenges and strengths within the neighborhoods we serve. This experience sparked powerful conversations about students’ resilience and assets. 

Additionally, my Community School Coordinator and I engaged in site mapping and one-on-one interviews with key members of our school community. These conversations allowed me to honor the expertise of fellow staff, families who have been part of our school for generations, and students in and out of my classroom. This process also helped us identify individuals representing diverse perspectives for our community schools site team. 

Community School Site Team

The Community School Site Team serves as a vital space for collaborative and shared leadership, bringing together diverse voices to guide our community school strategy. This team is composed of the community school coordinator, teacher lead (myself), principal, community and family engagement specialist, classified staff, teacher representatives, parents, students, and community partners. Together, we make recommendations regarding our community school strategy and the allocation of community school funds, ensuring that decisions reflect the needs and priorities of all of our educational partners.

A key initiative that emerged from our Community School Site Team is our reading program, SPEARs–Spartan Peers Engaging All Readers. Reading support was a recurring theme and issue that surfaced in one-on-ones and through our assets and needs assessment process. Previous attempts to implement an intensive reading program faced challenges, as it heavily relied on teacher availability and student attendance was inconsistent. 

In response, our Community School Coordinator and I researched alternative reading strategies and discovered the benefits of peer reading. We presented the need for reading support and our idea of implementing peer reading to the Community School Site Team.  As a site team, we brainstormed ways to incentivize student participation. Students shared that food was a big motivator. So, our Community School Coordinator connected with our cafeteria and they agreed to provide free snacks for students. One of our community partner representatives offered up movie tickets for students who completed the program. Thus, we decided to select books that have been adapted into movies for our end-of-quarter celebration with parents. Recognizing that students also participate in sports and clubs after school, we scheduled sessions twice a week for 30 minutes, enabling students to mentor one another while still engaging in other activities.

We recruited reading mentors from our honors English classes and book club, pairing them with students who scored low on the MAZE assessment or are designated as English Learners.

Students returned week after week because of the relationships they built with their reading partners. At the end of our first quarter, 100% of participants reported feeling more confident reading. One student who participated last year kept asking us when we would start the program again for this school year. Currently, over 60 students are participating in SPEARs, representing approximately 25% of our English Language Learners. 

Leadership Squad

What adults might classify as a “pressing need” may differ significantly from what is most meaningful to students, the true experts in their educational experience. This is exemplified by our Leadership Squad, a group of students that meets once a week before school to identify and address issues that matter to them. Students brainstormed ideas to improve their school experience and then collectively decided to focus on restroom conditions. They researched costs and justifications for improvements and are currently developing a proposal that includes requests for mirrors, air fresheners, vape detectors, and more.

Our Community School Coordinator and I support the Leadership Squad by connecting them with an authentic audience for their presentations. For instance, we are ensuring that the principal, our facilities manager, and a Title I representative are present at their upcoming presentation about improving restroom conditions. This not only validates the students’ efforts but also allows them to advocate for their needs directly to decision-makers.

In a similar way, teachers and staff have valuable experience and insights. Educators’ frequent interaction with students positions them to have their ears to the ground. They pick up on subtle changes and nuances—whether it’s new youth lingo or pressing issues within the community. They also notice the impacts of specific school policies on student well-being, engagement, and learning. Thus, it is crucial to include staff voices and feedback when it comes to curriculum development, professional development, and school policies.

As a school district, we do not teach to the test, which gives teachers the freedom to create their own performance task assessments. In my classroom, this flexibility means I can adapt and develop projects and lesson plans that align with what students are most interested in at any given moment. For example, I am able to use Minecraft education to teach students about the feudal system and medieval Europe. I am able to help students reflect on and identify the community cultural wealth they possess, and connect them with local historians and authors to ask questions about the research process and the community for an eighth grade unit on local Anaheim history. I am able to work with my community school coordinator to incorporate our school garden into lessons about Mesoamerica and indigenous foods, giving students hands-on experience in planting. This year, students will actually get to use the sweet potatoes planted by last year’s students to make a traditional dish.

So many great examples of lesson plans designed by teachers connect student learning with real life context, something they are able to do because they are trusted to do what they know best. Collaborative leadership can start small within the classroom, emphasizing student voice and choice. At the beginning of the school year, we establish social contracts that empower students to shape the classroom environment and set expectations together. We also utilize restorative justice circles to ensure that every student has a chance to share their thoughts and feelings, fostering an inclusive atmosphere.

“If you have come here to help me you are wasting your time, but if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.”

—Lilla Watson

The above quote highlights a fundamental truth about our educational systems: we cannot do this work alone. For too long, schools have operated under the assumption that those within the formal educational system know what is best for students and what they need, without asking students, their families, or their communities. Shared leadership recognizes that our success is interconnected.  Shared leadership is not just a strategy; it’s a necessary framework for educational transformation.

Xitlaly Sánchez is a social science teacher and the Community School Teacher Lead at Brookhurst Junior High School in the Anaheim Union High School District.