ND Full-Service Community School

  • Posted November 4, 2024
Students standing outside of Heart River covered in color from the color run

By: Sherry Leavitt
NDFSCS School Site Coordinator at HRE

In December 2023, Heart River Elementary School began identifying as a North Dakota Full-Service Community School (NDFSCS). NDFSCS, along with the Central Regional Education Association (CREA), forms a consortium that includes various North Dakota schools and organizations dedicated to the success of students and families in the state. NDFSCS serves as a hub for collaborative partnerships that focus on a whole-child, whole-family approach to student success.

We work with community leaders to coordinate comprehensive support through our eight key areas, or pipelines. These include: 

  1. Early Childhood Education
  2. Remedial and Academic Enrichment Activities
  3. Family Engagement
  4. Community-Based Supports
  5. Wellness
  6. Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
  7. Workforce Readiness and Development
  8. Mentoring and Other Youth Development Programs

Students cannot learn effectively if their basic needs are unmet, and not all students have the resources necessary to fulfill these needs. NDFSCS helps schools and community partners navigate these challenges collaboratively.

We are proud to be the first district in the state to designate three of our schools as Full-Service Community Schools: Heart River Elementary, Prairie Rose Elementary, and Dickinson Middle School. 

Prinicpal Randy Muffley throwing yellow color on student while running I serve as the NDFSCS Site Coordinator at Heart River Elementary, where I dedicate my time to enhancing the school's capacity by helping students and their families overcome barriers to learning.

We have identified family engagement as a key focus for this school year at Heart River. To kick off the year with some fun, we organized our second back-to-school color run/walk on Saturday, September 21st. Thanks to funding from the Maternal and Child Health (MCH) grant, we were able to promote increased physical activity among our students, staff, and families. 

With the assistance of some DHS football players, parents, and staff, enjoyed an hour of colorful fun as participants ran or walked around our school. We had 10 stations where the 8 different colored non-toxic chalk was tossed with our hands or cups as our participants ran/walked by. Bottled water, sunglasses and wrist bands were also provided at our event. 

Despite the windy and cool weather, we had a fantastic time. Thank you to all the volunteers and participants who helped make this event a success!