The Need for Schools to Act as Communities

Abstract

As cities, towns, and neighborhoods continue to break down and loose their original purpose of connecting individuals to one another, the school systems have been forced to take on the additional role as the community. American schools try to incorporate a sense of connection and belonging in a safe environment to combat the growing concern of a violent episode occurring within their walls, as has begun to occur in schools all around the country. The purpose of this thesis is to identify the need of the schools to act as a positive, healthy community for our youth and our larger communities based on current research, and examine if these efforts do work by incorporating a school community building event within a public school and comparing the pre and post event results. The school community event, titled Celebration Day, focused on a full day highlighting student talents and working as a community to learn these new talents. The goal of this event was to establish a connection between the students, through all grade levels, and staff and promote a positive school climate by giving the community members of the school a day to learn and teach each other skills and talents that are not typically showcased during an average school year. The results of this program were measured by pre and post surveys given to random samples of students. The results indicate that there was a dramatic increase in the positive perception of the school community and the student bodies’ sense of belonging.