By: Sherry Leavitt, Community Schools Site Coordinator for Heart River Elementary
My name is Sherry Leavitt, I have been a substitute teacher with the district for the past 4 years, and now I am the new Community Schools Site Coordinator for Heart River Elementary. At Heart River we are excited to begin the process of identifying as a North Dakota Full-Service Community School (NDFSCS).
NDFSCS serves as a place and a set of collaborative partnerships that embrace a whole-child, whole-family approach to student success. We will be partnering with local leaders to coordinate comprehensive support in areas such as wellness, workforce readiness, and academic achievement to help students, families, and communities thrive. Students cannot learn when their basic needs are not met. Not all schools have the resources to meet all needs. NDFSCS supports schools and community partners in navigating these challenges together. That's where I will be stepping in to bridge the gap between school and the community. I will establish long-lasting, trusted relationships within the community and with families here at Heart River. Heart River will essentially be a hub where families, community, and students can meet.
I bet you're wondering how we are going to do this? Well, we have a dedicated Site Coordinator, a School-Site Implementation Team, our Pipeline Service Partners & Providers, and Intentional Continuous Improvement. Our pipeline services are Early Childhood Development, Remedial & Academic Enrichment Activities, Family Engagement, Community-Based Supports, Wellness, Juvenile Justice & Delinquency Prevention, Workforce Readiness & Development and Mentoring & Other Youth Development Programs.
We are hoping introducing the NDFSCS to Heart River will give us some great outcomes. Improving family engagement, community engagement, whole-child education, student attendance, student behavior, student academic achievement, student engagement, and strengthening choice readiness.
Dickinson Public School is the tenth district to adopt this in our state. What makes us different from the rest of the districts is we have 2 elementary schools in our district implementing the NDFSCS consortium. I am very excited to also introduce Kim Goodall, our new Site Coordinator at Prairie Rose Elementary. Kim and I are going to make a wonderful team introducing NDFSCS into our district and our community.
