School & Community Partnerships

Partnerships toolkit guide thumbnail

Creating Afterschool Partnerships Toolkit!

This toolkit was developed by the Afterschool for Children and Teens Now (ACT Now) Coalition to support Illinois providers of afterschool and youth development programs in their efforts to collaborate with various stakeholders within their communities. ACT Now recognizes the importance of a communitywide investment in the positive development and well-being of youth and believes that developing partnerships is an effective way of creating community stake in youth success.

Download the guide

For questions about topics related to school partnerships, please reach out to Nikki Gillani at GillaniN@actnowillinois.org.

Archived Partnership Webinars and Resources

On this page, you will find resources and webinar recordings of trainings related to encouraging and forming partnerships with school districts and/or community partners to provide afterschool and youth development programming. NOTE: The titles of the webinars are either registration links or the webinar recordings themselves.

OST After ESSER Webinar Series

Sustainability Panel Discussion

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Partnership Sustainability

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Blending and Braiding Funding

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  • Navigating Rejection When Asking to Partner and Leverage ARP Funding:The Afterschool Alliance released a toolkit to help afterschool programs and community-based organizations (CBOs) navigate responses (no’s) and continue the conversation around partnership and sustainability of funding for youth development services.
  • ESSER Funds One-Pager: In response to the lasting impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government invested almost $8 billion in Illinois to mitigate learning loss and support social-emotional recovery. ACT Now’s ESSER One Pager explains how funding was distributed statewide and offers specific strategies school districts can use to invest their funds sustainably and effectively. This document is also linked with resources to support the field in their spend down.

Using Data to Design Afterschool Programs

ACT Now conducted a webinar for school administrators and leaders to help them identify what types of data should be collected, how data should be interpreted, and how to create concrete steps for development from that data. By the end of this webinar, attendees are able to begin data collection processes and understand how to quantitatively interpret results for program creation.

Connecting School Districts to Community Partners

Creating Afterschool and Partnerships to Support Students Learning

The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) recently announced that it will be awarding ESSER III afterschool and summer learning funding DIRECTLY to school districts. To review ISBE’s ESSER III allocations, click here. In response, along with the Illinois Principals Association, ACT Now hosted webinars for school administrators in order to encourage collaboration between schools and community-based organizations for afterschool and summer learning opportunities.

Additional Resources

Mental Health Awareness: Helping Others and Promoting Visibility

ShareMyLesson has created a collection of mental health awareness resources for educators and parents with valuable tools and strategies to better understand and support the emotional well-being of young people.

5 Steps to Integrate STEM into Student Literacy 

This article from eSchoolNews discusses how educators can merge literacy and STEM into engaging, hands-on activities.

6 Key Questions About AI

This report from EducationWeek tackles six big questions about artificial intelligence, including the challenges it poses for the education field. 

IEP Student Data Report Now Available

ISBE has released the school year 2023-24 Special Education Profile as a selected data report in the IEP Student Tracking and Reporting (I-Star) System. To view an entity’s profile, log into I-Star and view “Reports”. 

Understanding Dyslexia: Early Intervention and Instruction

A new article from eSchoolNews discusses the importance of early school screenings and science-backed reading instruction for students with dyslexia.

ISBE Communications Have Been Updated

The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) has shared new ways to stay in the loop on topics that range from assessment updates to funding opportunities and more! Subscribe to their different newsletters today!

Report Highlights Whether Districts’ ESSER Spending Was Effective

A U.S. Government Accountability Office report shares that school districts across the country spent COVID-19 emergency funds based on community input, financial need, state policies, and more. 

Evidence Suggests Work-based Learning Partnerships Support Students

eSchool News published an article on the importance of partnerships with organizations that can offer high school students work-based learning opportunities.

Talking to Students About Their Learning Differences: A Guide for Teachers

EducationWeek has an article that shares how students are engaging their teachers while advocating for their learning differences.

Schools Are Supportive of Summer Learning Programs as Federal Funds Expire

Our friends at the Massachusetts Afterschool Partnership (MAP) and the National Summer Learning Association (NSLA) have a media story with the Hechinger Report to elevate the issue of funding cliffs for many out-of-school time (OST) and summer programs. The article also makes the case for partnerships with diverse community-based entities, like school districts.

Lessons Learned from High-Quality and Holistic Summer Learning

Director Joffe of Children’s Programs at the School Superintendents Association (AASA) wrote an article highlighting the importance of summer learning programs in boosting student engagement and school attendance.

Toolkit to Address Chronic Absenteeism

The U.S. Department of Education has released an updated toolkit to support K-12 educators and school communities in addressing chronic absenteeism and promoting attendance. There is also an opportunity for school districts to join the Attendance Solutions Network.

New Fact Sheet on the Financial Impact of Teacher Turnover

The Learning Policy Institute has produced a fact sheet on the cost of educator turnover in a school district or school community. LPI also developed a calculator to help advocates estimate the financial impact on the school, students, and local and/or regional community members.