Editor:
In his first official act after taking the oath of office, President Barack Obama issued a proclamation calling on all Americans, “To serve one another and the common purpose of remaking this nation for our new century.”
Schools don’t have to wait to build on community involvements already established. Schools can engage community resources that benefit students, their families, school and neighborhood.
Schools must be seen as an integral part of the community, outreaching to create, maintain mutual benefit linkages and collaborations aiming to strengthen students, schools, families and neighborhoods.
It is true that learning is neither limited to what is formally taught nor to time spent in the classrooms. It occurs whenever and wherever the learner interacts with the surrounding environment. Anyone in the community who wants to facilitate learning can be a teacher.
The new superintendent will be charged with healing the district and be part of a team to creating mechanisms to enhance collaboration, clarify what resources already are available, how the resources will be organized to work together, and what procedures are in place for enhancing resource usefulness.
The new superintendent, who understands and respects this community, should work through formal efforts to create school-community collaborations to improve school and neighborhood, involve building formal relationships to connect resources involved in prek-12 schooling and resources in the community.
Dennis R. Galvan
Española