My name is Nola Derby-Bennett N-O-L-A-D-E-R-B-Y hyphen B-E-N-N-E-T-T, and I serve as the Director of Lincoln Community Learning Centers with Lincoln Public Schools. We serve 30 Title I eligible buildings in our district.
The Mission of Lincoln Community Learning Centers is to support Successful Students- Thriving Families- and Strong Neighborhoods. To meet that mission, we adopted the Full Service Community School model many years ago because we know that student success improves when their families are thriving and the community in which they live is strong and supportive. The Community Schools model is a National Best practice, and we work closely with the National Coalition for Community Schools for guidance in implementing the model.
We know that the best way to truly meet our mission is to collaborate with community partners who are experts in all of the supports that wrap around our students and their families to help them thrive.
In Lincoln Public Schools we work collaboratively with 10 local nonprofits to lead our Community Learning Centers, and then under the direction of each School-Based Leadership Team, we partner with hundreds of community partners to deliver high quality academic and enrichment programming, as well as education and support for parents and community members. We operate under the principle that the school is the hub of each neighborhood by providing services and supports where people already are.
We support LB 1347, because it will allow the ability to expand on partnerships – engaging community experts- to truly bring in supports and opportunities for families. Some of these supports are familiar to us, such as the partnership with local food banks for the Backpack Program and Food Markets; and adult educational opportunities such as the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce’s Lincoln Manufacturing Skills Training. Families can even file their taxes through a partnership with UNL’s VITA Tax Prep while they’re at the school to pick up their children at the end of the day. Other partnerships remain on the horizon. Services such as school based medical and dental clinics, housing supports and behavioral health supports sufficient enough to serve all students who need it.
I have recently had the opportunity to visit two different school based health clinics- one in Cleveland, Ohio and one in Asheville, North Carolina. In both visits the school officials outlined impressive outcomes illustrating the improvement in student attendance, and performance because students could visit the clinic right on campus to get an exam for something as simple as an ear infection or sinus infection, they could get a prescription filled, and then get straight back to class- reducing time out of the classroom. The school was serving as the hub of supports for students and their families.
The Community Schools Act would provide the opportunity to lean into the “schools as the community hub” concept, letting our educators be the experts in their field, and our community partners to be the experts in theirs- all while providing comprehensive integrated supports for students, families and the community. For these reasons, we are happy to support LB 1347.
