Lakewood School finds its strength in community. Families show up for their children, joining school events and convenings, and celebrating student accomplishments together. So, when the Lakewood faculty wanted to explore how they could better position students for learning success, they called in the experts — the families themselves — surveying and conducting focus groups with children, parents, and teachers. The resulting data informed Lakewood Elementary’s transformation into a community school model.
“In the Bay Area, where housing and living costs are high, the community school model at Lakewood supports families by providing essential resources and fostering community connections, helping to ease some of these challenges,” said Carly Sturm, Lakewood Principal.
Lakewood’s strong curriculum and interventions, combined with its caring family community, meant it was well-positioned to coordinate service delivery from partners. The model launched in the 2022-23 school year and has included an array of services ranging from emergency assistance and groceries, provided through Sunnyvale Community Services, to comprehensive counseling services delivered by Community Health Awareness Council/Pacific Clinics. A partial list of other Lakewood partners includes Project Cornerstone, Columbia Neighborhood Center, Acknowledge Alliance, and Playworks.
The school has added career-related curricular enrichments as well. Students learn about careers from guest speakers and periodically participate in partner-hosted field trips, discovering the kinds of opportunities that lie ahead and helping them to see their relevance to classroom studies.
In addition, a partnership with the Santa Clara County Office of Education has enabled the school to host a new wellness center on site, which provides trauma-informed practices to the site and houses food and clothing pantries and small group activities for learning.
“Beyond academics, the community partnerships formed through this model offer a wealth of opportunities – from after-school programs to health services. This holistic approach removes barriers and allows students and families to focus on what truly matters: learning, growing, and experiencing the joy of education together. It’s a journey and we’re all walking it side-by-side.” said Board of Education President Isabel Jubes-Flamerich.
