Held at Detroit’s Marygrove Conservancy on Aug. 1-2, 2024, the Summit on Strengthening Whole Child Communities: Raising the Bar from Cradle to Career represented a collaboration among numerous public and private entities invested in education, led by the U.S. Department of Education, The Kresge Foundation, the Ballmer Group, the Raikes Foundation and the Stuart Foundation. The summit brought together policymakers, practitioners, advocates, philanthropy leaders, youth and community-based organizations to reaffirm the importance of public education as a driver of opportunity and socioeconomic mobility for children and youth from low-income backgrounds, their families and their communities.

Participants gathered at the beautiful tree-lined campus of the Marygrove Conservancy in Detroit, a powerful example of the possibilities that emerge by adopting a whole-child and community-based approach to education. Operated by the conservancy on the site of the former Marygrove College, Marygrove is now home to a range of community-serving nonprofits and notably has transitioned to a P-20 educational campus encompassing an early education center, a public K-12 school, and post-secondary offerings, all in collaboration with the University of Michigan Marsal Family School of Education. Education on the campus is built on a project- and place-based curriculum and includes support services to meet the needs of the community.

Day 1 – Affirming Our Commitment: Lessons from Place-Based, Whole Child Initiatives

Welcome and Introductory Remarks

The convening began with a video from the Brick Education Network that asked how public and private partners might work together to unwind 200 years of systemic racism that too often plays out in our nation’s schools.

In his opening remarks, Roberto Rodriguez, assistant secretary for the Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development at the U.S. Department of Education, described the challenge of revitalizing public education as one that requires an “all hands-on deck approach to student success.”

Only by full involvement can a particular community’s needs be understood and addressed. As Rodriguez noted, “The vision we want to embrace is the power of place, of co-creating with families and communities a vision that is going to help them thrive.”

A whole-child approach, he argued, means attending not only to the child’s own needs but also to the needs of their families, their community.

Neera Tanden, director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, noted that sometimes the government itself creates silos that negatively impact children’s education and, by extension, their well-being. Community schools make it possible to break down these silos by supporting not just the child, but the whole family. For example, successfully addressing the problem of chronic absenteeism — something numerous speakers described as one of the most pressing challenges to address — might mean starting with seemingly different issues such as housing, food security and a sense of belonging.

In his remarks, Kresge Foundation President and CEO Rip Rapson described Marygrove as a “unicorn, but one that invites adaptation and translation to other places in other contexts.” As Detroit thinks about revitalization across multiple sectors, it is crucial to consider the ways that schools play a part in the overall community ecosystem. Marygrove came into existence through a unique set of partnerships across government agencies, community nonprofits and private funders. Now that a proof of concept has been established, successful elements from that model can be adapted to the unique realities of other communities and contexts.

Setting the Context of Place

The first panel of the day, “Setting the Context of Place,” featured three leaders whose long-standing collaboration led to the development of the Marygrove School: Alycia Meriweather (Detroit Public Schools Community District), Elizabeth Birr Moje (University of Michigan Marsal Family School of Education) and Celina Byrd (Marygrove Early Education Center), moderated by Wendy Lewis Jackson (Kresge). Their distinct but complementary backgrounds — in public schools, higher education, early education and philanthropy — were key to developing Marygrove’s whole-child, cradle-to-career, community school model. Post-secondary teacher training, access to healthcare and assistance navigating the health care system, mental health supports — these may not be child-specific services, but they undoubtedly contribute to a child’s ability to thrive in school and beyond. Moreover, teaching children to attend to matters of place builds capacity for a future generation of community leaders. As Byrd put it: “Children operate in the context of a family, and a family operates in the context of a community.”

Watch a highlight video from the “Pioneers of Marygrove” and the Setting the Context of Place panel:

Catalyzing Whole Child Communities through Public-Private Partnerships

The next panel, “Catalyzing Whole Child Communities through Public-Private Partnerships,” took up the question of breaking down institutional silos. This session featured Jeff Edmonson (Ballmer Group), Kenji Treanor (Stuart Foundation), Shital Shah (U.S. Department of Education) and Case Trupin (Raikes Foundation), and was moderated by Jonathan Hui (Kresge).

Speakers discussed the fact that there are some interventions that the public sector simply cannot undertake alone, and that mobilizing partnerships with community-based organizations and private philanthropy has the dual benefit of fostering a deeper understanding of place-based needs and offering financial support for new initiatives. Privately funded projects can take greater risks, and successful efforts can serve as proofs-of-concept to support broader public investment at scale.

For funders like Kresge, the challenge is to be nimble and flexible. Private funders must also work in close alignment with their partners, with frameworks and structures to guide operations and take a braided approach that integrates the best attributes of each partner. Speakers emphasized the importance of public-private partnerships and the ways that collaborative investment can create a system that is more than the sum of its parts. Community organizations know the needs; government systems have the structures in place; and philanthropy has the access and resources that can mobilize change. Together, these partnerships can be transformational — but only when all involved share clarity of focus about their desired outcomes and methods.

Coordinating across the Cradle to Career Pipelines

The discussion continued with a panel titled “Coordinating across the Cradle to Career Pipelines,” featuring Abe Fernandez (National Center for Community Schools), Russell Booker (Spartanburg Academic Movement), Lauren Markham (Oakland Unified School District) and Swati Adarkar (U.S. Department of Education), moderated by Catherine McConnell (U.S. Department of Education). Panelists reflected on Kresge President and CEO Rapson’s opening remarks about Marygrove as a unicorn and asked themselves how they could turn the Marygrove unicorn into “a herd” by better connecting early learning to the rest of the educational pipeline.

One key takeaway from this discussion was the vulnerability of transition points for families; a comprehensive approach like that of Marygrove reduces the risks inherent in these transitions. They also emphasized the connections between community schools and place-based strategies and the importance of building genuine, trust-based relationships across sectors in order to ensure the best outcomes for students, families and communities. Holding up the ethos of partners working in Spartanburg, South Carolina, as an example of what is needed, Booker explained: “This is our home, we love this place, we love each other. We need to do the difficult work of building trust among one another.”

Following the panel, breakout sessions offered a chance for participants to engage with one another on one of four key topics: Data for Storytelling: Engaging States in Place Based Programming; Engaging Families and Communities in Place-Based Learning; Schools as Community Anchors, Building Robust Full Service Community Schools Programs; and Place-Based Innovations in Rural Communities.

Closing Panel: Youth Leadership

An inspiring plenary of youth leaders working at the forefront of community youth organizing, educational justice through policy change, and the Black Lives Matter movement closed out the day’s discussions. Moderator Monique Miles (Opportunity Youth Forum) identified panelists Shantinette Lowe (482 Forward), Evamelo Oleita (Skillman Foundation Youth Advisory Council), Cristal Salcido (OneFuture Coachella Valley), and Brooke Solomon (DAYUM – Detroit Area Youth Uniting Michigan) as young “solutionaries.”

These young, powerful leaders focus on the power of community, the importance of intergenerational organizing, and racial equity as a fundamental driver of social change. The panelists reminded listeners to “lift as you climb,” urging young people to build capacity as they lead and grow and create roadmaps for other youth to follow. They also reminded the audience that youth are not just the future, but also the present. According to Solomon, “Young people are active present leaders and future changemakers.” Lowe reinforced Brooke’s point by saying, “nothing for us without us,” meaning nothing should be decided for youth without including their experiences, voices and perspectives in the process.

The day concluded with a vibrant networking event including a food truck party, music and games on Marygrove’s beautiful campus lawn.

A key theme that emerged throughout the day was that of trust. When so many different partners are at the table, taking time finding alignment and shared values is essential.

In the case of Marygrove, developing a joint operating agreement took several years even with strong shared commitments to children, to education and to the city of Detroit. The school’s model is at the intersection of education, community and economic development, and participants noted that it can be challenging to support revitalization without inadvertently contributing to displacement and gentrification.

Building trust was essential to the Marygrove Conservancy’s ability to see where these unintended consequences could potentially come into play — and to develop structures to mitigate them in advance. Key to the success of any community-focused initiative is listening to the community and building authentic partnerships. The community knows what is needed, whether those needs connect directly to the classroom, or the home, or the neighborhood. Classroom achievement can only happen when students’ homes are safe, stable and food-secure. A comprehensive education system must address those needs.

Day 2 – Visioning for the Future: Moving Forward through Public-Private Partnerships

The second day began with a powerful keynote by Cindy Marten, deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Education. In Marten’s words, “To truly connect with and support our families, it takes a village, and the village is wide, broad and beautiful — and it must be place-based. It’s time to carry this vision forward and replicate and scale what we know works.”

She underscored that all research points to the success of Marygrove’s model: place-based, community-driven schools that support families and partner with parents. Marten noted that “We secured the largest investment in public education history that gets kids a fighting chance to recover academically and thrive in their futures,” and she called on listeners to advocate for widespread implementation of this proven model.

Following this inspiring keynote, Elson Nash, the soon-to-retire director of the School Choice and Improvement Program Division, U.S. Department of Education, received recognition as a longtime visionary leader, a person of integrity committed to children. The crowd honored him with not one, but two standing ovations.

The Detroit Youth Choir carried the moment of celebration further with an uplifting performance filled with music and dancing that left the room invigorated. With spirits high, the session split into breakout rooms with sessions on Housing and Homelessness; Health and Whole-Child Wellbeing; Enrichment and Out-of-School Supports; and Engaging and Serving the Whole Family. One theme that emerged in these discussions was self-determination as a key theory of change, which reinforces the importance of truly community-driven work.

Closing Panel and Call to Action

The convening closed with a final panel that reflected on the themes of the previous two days and left listeners with a call to action. The speakers were Eddie Koen (Institutional Educational Leadership), Elson Nash (U.S. Department of Education), and Abe Fernandez (National Center for Community Schools), moderated by Kayla Roney Smith (Ballmer Group).

They were inspired by the youth panel and highlighted the importance of including youth voices in a meaningful way on initiatives that are created to support them. They offered examples like including youth members on boards and reminded the audience that, as the youth panelists had underscored the day before, youth are not just the future —  they’re the present.

Fernandez and Koen reflected on the importance of this moment and this movement, urging audience members to move quickly while also honoring and incorporating community voices. Koen said, “There is no absence of knowledge and skills, we need the fortitude to flex our social capital and knowledge. … We need to get more imaginative if we want to change systems and build movements.”

Nash closed out the event encouraging participants to start examining the data from their successes and to share the story of their impact. With a federal election on the horizon, the next president will want to log early wins, and those working on the community school model can provide models of success. Finally, he emphasized the importance and power of collaboration, reminding the audience to, “make sure you’re working together.”

This inspiring convening was a reminder of what is possible through engaged, trusting and enduring partnerships that are deeply rooted in their home communities — and through these, collectively contribute to a national movement to center the whole child and whole family, from cradle-to-career, in every community.

Kelly Spence is a principal and co-founder of Four Corners Global Consulting Group, a social impact consulting firm working at the nexus of evaluation and strategy. Kresge supported this event as part of its suite of centennial activities. Learn more at kresge.org/centennial/.