City of Little Rock : Community Schools

Community Schools were developed in partnership between the City of Little Rock and the Little Rock School District. They aim to create a network where community members, school leaders, and families work together to develop supports and services that meet the needs of students and their families. Questionnaires and conversations with each school’s families, staff, and community stakeholders help identify need areas and types of support programs that they would like to see. This community focused-process enables Little Rock’s Community Schools to advance equity in neighborhoods that have historically been underserved. These schools become neighborhood hubs that support the community and ensure that students and families have the tools they need to be their best selves! As the community school model was developed, many families and school staff across all four schools identified food resources as need areas. In response, Community Schools opened food pantries for families, held monthly community cafes, distributed food boxes, and planted school gardens.

FoodCorps members will help to bring to life the vision of community members for school food access and education. Projects will include providing hands-on curriculum aligned garden education to all students, maintaining school gardens, and increasing fresh options in food distribution. Members will serve at 1 community school each in the southwest quadrant of the City of Little Rock. Arkansas is deemed ‘The Natural State’, and that love of nature is so evident in the excitement we see for school garden programs!

FoodCorps members at the Little Rock sites are part of an Arkansas cohort that includes 11 members across 4 communities. Our team is run by two AmeriCorps alumni who work hard to ensure members are confident in bringing their schools’ wellness visions to life. We are a small team that isn’t afraid to get our hands dirty for our communities!