Jack Silva '12PhD
Superintendent of the Bethlehem Area School District
From your vantage point as Superintendent, what makes the Community Schools model a vital part of how the Bethlehem Area School District supports its students and families?
The community school model creates a framework that allows us to meet students’ needs. Kids come to us with academic needs, and obviously, we're used to addressing those, but they also come to us with family needs like housing and food insecurity, language needs, employment needs, and all the rest. When those needs are met, students can attend school with consistency and be engaged in their class work. Having partners help us with that important work, allows school leadership and teachers to focus on the academic and social needs of the students. Families also appreciate getting the resources they need and the program allows us to connect with families during and after the school day. The Community Schools are an indispensable part of the BASD strategy for student success.
Community Schools bring together education, healthcare, family support, and more under one roof. What are some of the most meaningful outcomes you’ve seen from this integrated approach?
Student attendance. Students can’t learn and grow if they are not at school or have interrupted academic support. When a student isn’t distracted by something impacting their families and can be comfortable at school, they are in a better place to be able to learn. Secondly, I would say access to direct service providers with all the resources that students need and should have. This includes services related to health, after-school enrichment, language services, and more. Families turn to the school as a trusted agent. The community school model is part of what builds that trust.
Lehigh University serves as the lead partner for three South Bethlehem community schools. How has that partnership strengthened the model, and what does a university bring to the table that’s unique?
When there is a single community partner weaving together a K-8 experience across three geographically connected schools, it becomes a much more comprehensive program with the potential to positively affect more students and their families. That is the partnership we have here in South Bethlehem with Lehigh University. That unity and consistency is important to the school faculty, staff and leadership as well as our students and families. Lehigh has always been a resource-rich and creative partner, connecting our schools with student volunteers as well as opportunities like academic programming, athletic and arts events, health services programming or leadership development - there's always something cooking at Lehigh.
Lehigh has a comprehensive reach in South Bethlehem and I couldn’t imagine having a better situated partner for our three schools here. Who, what and where Lehigh University is really adds a lot of value to our community school model.
Lehigh students are embedded in this work—they tutor middle schoolers, host food pantries, create free family events, and offer on-campus experiences for local students and their families. What kind of impact does that direct engagement have on both the school communities and the Lehigh students themselves?
For our students, many who will go on to be first-generation college students, having frequent touchpoints with college students allows them to imagine what it would be like to go to a university. The ability to connect our kids to what a college experience could look like, what a college campus looks like, and to help them imagine what kinds of careers a university education could enable, it’s inspiring. When Lehigh’s student-athletes come to visit our schools in their uniforms, that’s another great way for our students to see what’s possible in college.
What role does this model play in advancing equity in the district, especially for students from historically underserved communities?
This community school model really helps us meet the varied needs of our diverse student population. Sometimes it means providing health support like getting students access to eyeglasses, sometimes it means creating after-school programs, and sometimes it means providing access to opportunities that are happening at Lehigh like academic programs or arts events like at Zoellner. For schools to reach out and connect with resources in their local community and get them in their authentic form, it is more meaningful. We're fortunate here in Bethlehem that those community resources are available and always willing to come to our table in support of the families we share.
