Six Priorities

<p><strong>In this provocative and timely book Luis Eladio Torres challenges a common assumption: that education is the first priority for families including those who are raising their children in low-income high-need communities.</strong> Instead he argues that these families must confront daunting challenges in five other areas--food shelter safety health and access to technology--before they can focus on their children's education.<p>To make his case Torres draws on his experience as the award-winning principal of an elementary school in the Bronx and as a leader in New York City's community schools network. A community school focuses on educating the whole child supporting families and extending its reach into the larger community--both by tapping into resources the community can offer and by providing a range of social and health services to that community.<p><em>The Six Priorities</em>: How to Find the Resources Your School Community Needs demonstrates how leaders in challenging education environments can improve their schools through a community-matching process that consists of four steps: <p>1. <em>Identifying the gaps</em> between what is available and what is necessary for a school and its community to function well<br>2. <em>Specifying needs</em> including prioritizing and distinguishing needs from wants.<br>3. <em>Telling your story</em> as a way to gain support for the effort to close the gap and address the needs.<br> 4. <em>Establishing strategic partnerships</em> with individuals organizations and agencies that can provide resources and expertise.<p>To help you implement the process in your own school this insightful guide includes a downloadable community-matching worksheet. <p>The goals of this process are clear: to reduce the shocking inequities between impoverished communities and their wealthier counterparts; to help disadvantaged students succeed; and ultimately to steer them toward productive lives beyond the classroom. The need has never been greater.</p>