The $4 billion California Community Schools Partnership Program is the nation’s largest investment in the success of high-needs students through a whole-child approach. Community schools partner with education, county, and nonprofit entities to provide integrated health, mental health and social services alongside high-quality, supportive instruction with a strong focus on community, family, and student engagement.

Research shows that community schools can result in better school attendance, better grades and test scores, higher enrollment in college-prep classes and higher graduation rates.

On Nov. 2, the SBE approved contracts to eight county offices of education (Shasta, Sacramento, Santa Clara, Monterey, Fresno, Los Angeles, San Diego and San Bernardino) that will serve as Regional Technical Assistance Centers in eight regions:

Northern California (Butte, Del Norte, Glenn, Humboldt, Lake, Lassen, Mendocino, Modoc, Plumas, Shasta, Siskiyou, Tehama and Trinity),

Capitol Area (Alpine, Colusa, El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Sierra, Solano, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba),

Bay Area (Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Sonoma),

Central Coast (Monterey, San Benito, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz and Ventura),

Central Valley (Amador, Calaveras, Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Stanislaus, Tulare and Tuolumne),

Greater Los Angeles (Los Angeles),

Southern Coast (Imperial, Orange and San Diego), and

Southern Inland (Inyo, Mono, Riverside and San Bernardino).

RTACs will work closely with the State Transformational Assistance Center (Alameda County Office of Education in partnership with the UCLA Center for Community Schooling, Californians for Justice, and the National Education Association) to help emerging and existing community schools create support networks with like campuses, share best practices, plan for success, leverage funding and coordinate services.

The contracts awarded Nov. 2 build on the SBE’s action in May to approve $649 million in grants to 268 school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools to assist in planning for new community schools and supporting existing initiatives.