Making Community Collaboration Work
The School Zone quickly became The Budd Center’s flagship effort. It has evolved into a collective impact partnership of 33 nonprofits and 15 public, private and charter schools (all of the schools in the Pinkston High School feeder pattern), leveraging their collective resources to ensure children in the community have the tools and support they need to leave high school ready for college or the workforce.
The School Zone works because of the power of its extended partnerships. West Dallas nonprofits have spent decades building trust and nurturing relationships with generations of families. Their roots in the community helped usher in The School Zone. Our strong partnerships with school leaders and their desire to see every child succeed further enriches our nonprofit and school collaboration. We learn from our partners, and we strategize together.
Our vision for the future is two-fold. We are absolutely convinced that every child in West Dallas and in every community we serve deserves an equitable education, and we are working toward that day. We also believe that we are building a model of community intervention that can move high functioning nonprofit partners into even greater levels of accomplishment and service. We are demonstrating this model in West Dallas so we can share it broadly. After 11 years of hard work, we have solid evidence of our success. We have deeply engaged partners who report significant impact from their time spent in The School Zone. We are supporting multiple high quality, coordinated and data informed programs. Our networks and professional learning communities facilitate collaboration and training, and The School Zone’s nonprofit partners are all committed to the same vision.