Community Schools grantees in South County, San Diego came together for a second time this year at the South County Resource Summit, held on April 29 in the Burress Auditorium at the South Bay Union School District. This event was thoughtfully co-designed by the South County Community Schools Collaborative as a direct response to feedback from their inaugural Community Schools Summit held this past fall.
While the fall gathering focused on bringing together site and district community schools teams to celebrate Cohorts 1-4, build a foundation for the Community Schools movement in South County, and plant the seeds for inter-LEAs collaboration, this spring summit expanded the circle. In a region where LEAs are not unified into a single district, the Resource Summit served as a vital bridge to create a true PK–12+ network for advocacy and support.
Collaboration Beyond Boundaries
The day was designed to extend collaboration beyond their school teams. During the first half of the summit, participants connected across district lines, clustering by high schools and their feeder middle and elementary schools. This regional approach allowed teams to:
- Identify current community assets and pressing needs
- Discuss collaborative possibilities to support students from preschool through graduation and beyond
- Draft a cohesive PK–12+ vision for our South County families
- Plan strategic actions to ensure communication and connection continue well beyond the conclusion of the summit
Connecting Schools to Services
The summit also brought together various community-based organizations and agencies already working within their schools in order to collaboratively and strategically address major needs identified by their regional communities.
Learn More: To dive deeper into the details of this and the previous summit or learn more about the work of the Collaborative, please visit the South County Community Schools Collaborative website.
