Full Service Community Schools: Built Upon Partnerships.

Full Service Community Schools are a holisitic model that leverages community partnerships, focuses on equity in access and opportunity, and provides tailored services. Below are highlights for each of the main pillars that Community Schools rest upon.

Pillar 1: Integrated Student Supports

This pillar focuses on making supports, often times found within our greater community, more accessible and locating them at our school. These include initiatives such as on-site dental check-ups & immunizations, housing navigators, and our Rocket Community Room. Below are images of our Rocket Community Room, a space open to all students, and something we are very proud of. The Rocket Community Room is visited by dozens of students each day seeking support from small things, such as a pin for a hijab, to larger things like support finding safe and stable housing. It is a central hub of our school community.

Pillar 2: Expanded and Enriched Learning Opportunities

Expanded and Enriching Opportunities can happen before or after school, summer, or within the school day and look to bolster the opportunities available to our students. Examples under this pillar include our Big Brother Big Sisters with Gage & Washington Elementary, support from the Rochester Running Club providing safe footwear to student athletes, school-based Driver's Education+, adding Workforce Development to our Career Center supports, and outreach between our JM Level 1 Newcomers and Gage Newcomer students. These type of experiences create a greater sense of belonging, can increase academic achievements, bolster school attendance, and improve social skills. Plus, many of them are just fun!

Spanish Club Embraces Opportunities

In partnership with ACHLA (Alliance of Chicanos, Hispanics and Latin Americans) we have worked to offer opportunities for growth and learning to our native Spanish speaking students and families. These have included monthly caregiver sessions, afterschool swimming and bike lessons (thank you to the Rochester Swim Club, Rochester Park & Rec, and Pato de Perro), and a college visit to the University of MN.

Elementary Connections Benefit All

We've worked to boost our collaborations with RPS elementary schools: it is great for our high school students & our elementary friends alike. These have included:

Growing our partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters with Washington & Gage Elementary Schools
Monthly Newcomer Meetups with our JM & Gage Classes
I Love to Read Month Visit with Washington
ML Civic Engagement Experiences with Franklin & Gage
Career Presentations by Sophomores at Gage

Pillar 3: Active Family & Community Engagement

At the high school level, sometimes it feels very challenging to engage with families. Students are moving toward greater independence, some are involved in many activities, juggling working and home responsibilities, etc... That being said, it is still so valuable for caregivers and the community to be actively involved in our schools .... please let us know if you have ideas! This year we tested out some new initiatives, such as Mission College Bound, Family Engagement Events for our Spanish Speaking Families & Freshman Focused Caregiver Events. We also continued with our Fall Festival and Spring Relay for Life events, RNeighbors Neighborhood Ambassadors & Rocket Night for incoming freshmen.

FCCLA Continues to Reach the Community

Our JM FCCLA Club (Family, Career & Community Leaders of America) continued to shine! This is a newer club to John Marshall, but they have quickly demonstrated their commitment to not only preparing for their competitions, but investing in our school and larger community. They spearheaded the RNeighbors Neighbohood Ambassador Program, pushing out in the JM Neighborhood to build positive relationships and tackled large projects like gathering supplies from the community for the Ronald McDonald House & victims of Hurricane Helene. We are thankful for, and proud of, this student group.

Mission College Bound Launches

Coach Kyle Riggot saw a need and worked to find a way to address it. Thanks to a grant by the Olmsted County BRIDGE Collaborative, we were able to launch a three year pilot program aimed at informing our underclassmen student-athletes that have a desire to play collegiate level sports after high school. MCB included a Family Night followed by a campus visit to Winona State University. Participants were able to interface with student-athletes, coaches, and academic liaisons to gain early exposure to the expectations of college athletics, which helps them make informed decisions about choices they make in high school which will impact their future opportunities. This proactive approach serves as an early intervention strategy, equipping both students and caregivers with the tools to navigate the transition from high school to college.

Pillar 4: Shared Leadership & Vision

The premise of this pillar is that all stakeholders, including students, staff, families, teachers and community partners are actively involved in making decisions for the school. Within our school, we have many student leadership clubs, from the Football Leadership Team to Student Council to Black Student Union. Our John Marshall Identity Mural was able to give voice and input to a large network, including alumni and neighbors on content, design and creation of the mural.

JM Identity Mural Makes Its Large Presence Known

The JM Identity Mural finally went from concept to fruition with installation happening before our eyes in the Fall. Students were able to witness the painted panels and carefully designed & constructed mosaic tilework go up permanently on the exterior entrance walls of John Marshall. The Mural project took into account ideas, input & help creating from over 1000 from our larger JM community. We are excited by our mural!