About Us

What we do, why we do it, and how we got here

Our Why

SWIFT exists to deepen and broaden community school opportunities across New Mexico, to provide technical assistance and guidance, to break down silos while honoring the Community School  commitment to shared leadership, shared voice and diverse perspectives for the greater good of children, families, schools and communities. We are here to help build a robust community school strategy to transform public education now and for the future.

What We Provide

Hawthorne Comm

Training

Training and preparation for community school practitioners, including school leaders, coordinators, staff, and community partners.

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Technical Assistance

Technical assistance and capacity building support, including direct assistance to schools to ensure full implementation of the community school strategy.

Adrian and Tutors Jan 2022

Tools & Resources

Our goal is to be an online clearinghouse of tools and resources for community school practitioners.

work-floor

Policy

Policy briefs and policy-relevant research.

Our History

SWIFT Community Schools was founded in February 2023 with funding from a Congressionally-Directed Spending (CDS) award secured by U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich. Both SWIFT Community Schools and the CDS award originated as a collaborative effort by the ABC Community School Partnership, National Education Association - New Mexico, and Communities In Schools of New Mexico.

Read the project summary(opens in new tab)

About Community Schools

A community school is a locally driven school transformation strategy that promotes child well-being. Community schools leverage and coordinate the resources of the whole community to build a thriving school for students, families, school staff (including educators), and community partners.

The Community Schools Act was first passed in 1978 then amended in 2019
to align with national research and best practice and to create a grant program managed by NMPED. Its purpose is to provide well-rounded educational opportunities and supports for student success in New Mexico (Community Schools Act, Ch. 22, Art. 32, NMSA 1978).

Community schools [are] an evidence-based approach that can help the state improve the educational success of New Mexico children. National research finds that, when well-designed and fully implemented, community schools increase student success and reduce gaps in both opportunity and achievement.

— LPI NM Report

Additional Information

From Community Schools Forward

Community Schools Are More Than:

A Grant Program

  • Community Schools Are:

    A locally driven school transformation strategy that promotes child well-being.

An Experiment

  • Community Schools Are:

    An evidence-based approach that is driven by local voice.

Programs and Wrap-Around Services

  • Community Schools Are:

    A system that ensures the right students/families have access to the right support at the right time.

External Partnerships

  • Community Schools Are:

    Rigorous community-connected classroom instruction - culturally and linguistically responsive.