Three years ago, the students at Burney Elementary School in Plant City had a high “D” average. This designated the school as academically inconsistent, and put it under state correction. Now, the average for its 400 students has lifted to just a shade under a “B.” What happened? The school was turned into a “Community School.”
“A community school is something that is newer to Plant City,” Principal Brooke Quinlan said. “A community school is one that strives to support our families more than just academically. We support them with health. We support them with wellness. We support them with financial endeavors. A community school is one that really wants to reach out to the community, and have the school be the hub of the community—a place where people go to celebrate success, to get assistance, and to learn and grow. We want to become the best school in Plant City.”
Quinlan and Brittany Durant, now the Community School Resource Teacher, submitted an application to the Hillsborough County Public Schools (HCPS) to become a community school. HCPS selected them and the school began the program in the 2023 academic year. “Our first year, it was just getting our feet wet and seeing what needs our community truly has,” Quinlan said. “This year we wanted to focus on health and wellness, because when we were communicating with families, these were the biggest challenges. A lot of the time, the parents have trouble navigating the wellness system in the area. They are not sure where to go or what doctors to see, or if they lose the pharmacy that will take insurance, where they can find another one.
This year the community school program hit the ground running. They have a food pantry that is supported by the United Food Bank of Plant City and Feeding Tampa Bay, as well as a clothes closet and a wellness closet. A quarter of students’ parents are engaged with these community resources. Durant has open office hours with BayCare staff during which parents can come in and get assistance with health needs. Every month the school holds community engagement sessions where parents can come out and learn about topics like mental health, food, and wellness. “We offer meals over Thanksgiving,” Quinlan said. “We provide gifts in partnership with the Plant City Police Department, and local churches. Last year with our partnerships, we were able to get every single student a gift for Christmas. We host a Spring Fling, when community partners like health organizationS and the library come out to share what they have to offer the community, including employment. That event has about 200 people, including those attracted from other schools. About 50 percent of our families take advantage of what we have to offer. The amount of support we get from the Plant City community is overwhelming.”
All of these initiatives involve the parents with the children’s lives at Burney—including their academics. According to the National Institutes of Health, “Parent involvement in a child’s early education is consistently found to be positively associated with a child’s academic performance.”
“We meet with different partners—different businesses, to meet the needs of our community,” Durant said. “Whether it’s backpacks, whether it’s food, whether it’s monetary donations—clothes, shoes, toiletries—whatever it is that our families or our staff needs. That is our main focus—to be able to sustain the different aspects of what community school is. Right now we have 13 partners, and we are looking for extra partners and people to support our community.”
On November 6, Darrell Smith, Board President of the Young Gentlemen’s Academy, presented Burney Elementary with a check for $4,000. “My organization is a mentorship organization,” Smith said. “We focus on underserved, underprivileged kids. This is what I call a day of giving. This particular school was chosen because it is a community-based school. They take a lot of donations from different organizations to help with the needs of the kids….With my organization that is centered around helping kids in the community, I team up with Black & Veatch Solar. They have partnered with me to help and support my initiative. So, I am here today to give a donation from them.”