Laying the Foundation: Progress on Early Full-Service Community Schools Grant Implementation Activities. Study Snapshot. NCEE 2026-001

Abstract

The U.S. Department of Education's Full-Service Community Schools (FSCS) program awards grants to states, districts, or other organizations to help partner schools implement community schools, which seek to provide coordinated, comprehensive supports to children and their families. This snapshot charts FSCS's progress in two foundational areas: early activities that grantees must help partner schools complete and partnerships that grantees must finalize with local providers to deliver essential services to children in community schools. In the first months of their 5-year grant period, most grantees reported that all partner schools had hired a coordinator, but progress was limited on training them and on implementing activities typically led by coordinators, such as conducting a needs assessment and establishing a school-based leadership team. More than a third of grantees reported that their partners were finalized, but many grantees also did not rule out the possibility for future changes.