Mercer Street Friends Presents at National Community Schools Conference
Community Schools Team Presents at National Conference in California
By Nigel Johnson, Assistant Director, Community Schools
Our Mercer Street Friends Community School Team recently traveled to Long Beach, California for the 2026 National Community Schools and Family Engagement Conference, hosted by the Institute for Educational Leadership (IEL).
Centered around the theme “Guiding Lights, Brighter Futures,” the conference brought together more than 4,200 educators, school leaders, family advocates, students, policymakers, and community partners from across the country to strengthen the community school movement.
Our team had the opportunity to present to this incredible gathering of educators. My colleagues Julie Rodriguez, Larissa Boughton, Kaitlin Stahlbrand, Brandon Coaxum, and myself led the session, “Bringing the Pillars to life: Site Coordinator 101 for Using the Pillars at Your Community School.”
This presentation was significant for our group – not only did we provide Community School site coordinators from across the country the chance to learn new skills as they implement and sustain their own Community Schools, but we had the chance to boast about Mercer Street Friends, and let the Community School initiative here in Mercer County shine.
We talked about how Mercer Street Friends partners with school districts to improve attendance, strengthen literacy, provide after-school enrichment, connect families with food and social services, and coordinate mental health and case management supports. On this national stage, we had the chance to showcase how Mercer Street Friends Community Schools have become true community hubs that address both academic achievement and the social, emotional, and basic needs of students and families.
Attending this conference also gave us the opportunity to participate in professional learning, exchange best practices, and bring innovative ideas back to New Jersey. The knowledge gained through workshops and networking will help strengthen Mercer Street Friends’ work in family engagement, collaborative leadership, data-informed decision-making, and expanded learning opportunities as we grow the Community Schools initiative throughout Mercer County.
At the end of our time in Long Beach, I was struck by a common theme I heard running throughout the conference – a shift in the way we view family engagement. As one of the core pillars of a Community School, family engagement is not just an after-school activity or a meeting. Families are co-designers of student success, and therefore family engagement cannot be an afterthought; it must be a core principle and woven into everything we do. We learned effective practices to support this, including two-way communication, student voice, integrated supports, social-emotional learning, community partnerships, and collaborative leadership.
For me and my team, the conference reinforced that successful Community Schools are built on strong relationships among schools, families, and community organizations – just as our amazing six Community Schools here in Mercer County are. We can’t wait to put everything we learned this summer into our work this coming school year.
