Successes at LMS Community School
Some Highlights on Community School Processes at Lynn:
- Over One Thousand Stakeholders were involved in deep community assessment to learn about the needs and assets at Lynn. Over 50 volunteers spent over 350 hours developing and implementing data gathering tools. Lynn developed a strategic plan based on the priorities identified in the community assessment.
- In the 2017-18 school year, Lynn initiated eight different out-of-school time programs in addition to sports, including archery, dance, Boys and Girls Club activities, and stem-focused programs, as well as after-school tutoring.
- Working with the Hunger Task Force, a coalition initiated by the Mayor/City, we’ve served 2,258 meals on evenings at Lynn to hungry kids since December 2017.
- For parents and the community, Lynn hosted and will continue to host “First Teacher Classes” for parents with young children.
- There were four concurrent summer programs at Lynn 2017 and 2018 serving over 200 students total. The summer programs include the Police Academy, and a Boys and Girls Club camp that partnered with Friends of the Organ Mountain Desert Peaks Monument to take Lynn students on field trips once a week to local parks and monuments.
- Working with the Parks and Recreation Department, we launched “Rise-Up Fridays.” The City teen mobile unit and/or Weed and Seed is at Lynn every week ensuring kids had the opportunity to engage in safe and fun activities on Friday evenings, and have a free meal.
- We are in conversations with Ben Archer about being the first middle school in Las Cruces to create a school based health center, which we hope will serve families and the neighborhood. This will be the first school to include dental services.
- We are the first and only school in the district to have on-site the Juvenile Assessment and Reporting Center (JARC), a diversion program for at-risk youth. Through the JARC, a licensed social worker provided case management to over 30 students at Lynn.
- LMS' Neighborhood Engagement Team has partnered with the Nevada Neighborhood Project, an initiative led by the City in partnership with Dona Ana Communities United. Lynn hosted a series of neighborhood meetings for the Nevada Neighborhood Project, including a neighborhood block party, and a neighborhood “share fair.”
- Roadrunner food bank partnership has given out 1,000 baskets of food to needy Lynn families since January 2017 to help fight hunger in the Lynn Community.
- LMS is developing a Family Resource Center, with a variety of basic needs supports such as clothing, housing, hygiene items, and more.
- LMS initiated two elective courses of ENLACE – a culturally responsive course rooted in participatory action research.
- Three Rivers Foundation will be sponsoring an after-school tutoring program at Lynn starting in Fall 2018
- New Mexico State University College of Education has provided multiple student interns each semester to both support and learn about the community schools process. The College of Education also ran an after-school club at Lynn called Math Explorers focused on engaging students in math.
- LMS supported the development of the HAZLO Foundation. Local Philanthropist Jack Soules provided seed funding to support student projects and community mentorships for Lynn students
- Memorial Medical Center formally made Lynn part of its residency program. All incoming Memorial residents will volunteer at Lynn building relationships with students, going on home visits, and more.
- LMS hosted a “parent teacher home visiting” training that was open to the community and trained Lynn staff to conduct home visits with families.
- LMS partnered with the organization “The Great Conversation” to host dialogues on education, school safety, and more.
- LMS partnered with local nonprofit La Semilla to host a gardening and cooking club
- LMS hosted a community festival in Fall 2017 and Spring 2018 that brought together over 40 community partners each.