WEST SACRAMENTO, CA (MPG) - River City High School and Riverbank Elementary will be starting Community Schools in fall of 2023. Washington Unified School District (WUSD) was one of 42 districts, nationwide, to be chosen to receive this year’s grant to help put community schools into our schools. Partnered with United Way California Capital Region will receive $500,000 annually for the next five years from the Department of Education in order to support the launching of two Full Service Community Schools (FSCS).

The FSCS will be housed in RCHS and Riverbank, with the opportunity to expand to other sites. They will serve as neighborhood hubs, providing access to healthcare, mentoring, expanded learning programs, adult guidance and other services. Community Schools are described as a school within a school. They will include a wellness and resource center. It will be a place where students, their families and neighbors around the school can come for help with “direct support and trauma informed care.”

Community Schools are designed to assist in whatever the problem is that is creating chronic absenteeism and opportunity gaps. WUSD and United Way are working together to improve overall health and academic success. Many students struggle with hunger, homelessness, and many other issues, creating gaps in opportunities that other students may have. These struggles in turn effect their physical and mental health.

Community Schools will be a way to repair those reasons that are holding students back. The WUSD Community Schools are planned to be up and running by fall of the 2023/24 school year. Only 100 places have been established across the country since 2008 through this program and WUSD is proud to join that list.

You can learn more about Community Schools by visiting https://www.wusd.k12.ca.us/District/Community-Schools/index.html or www.YourLocalUnitedWay.org. More information will come to as it becomes available.