Rosita Rendon knows the benefits of SUN (Schools Uniting Neighborhoods) Community Schools all too well. As a young child who moved to Oregon from California, SUN Community Schools didn’t just help her, but her family, too.
Both Rosita and her mother “attended adult classes where we were able to take in Spanish. I attended as a student, and she as an adult, and so I think that definitely gave us the exposure of getting that academic opportunity to improve on our English,” she said.
As a fourth grade student in the Reynolds School District, she enrolled in SUN Community Schools, which provided much-needed care after school while her parents were working, as well as academic opportunities, clubs and friends — some lifelong.
For Rosita, SUN Community Schools was a place of connection.
"It was a place to not only connect with current classmates, but just get to know other students in another fourth grade class,” she said. “I think it just made our relationships a lot easier. If I saw a kiddo I saw in SUN on the playground, I was like 'Hey, what do you think about this?' or 'Think about what we’re going to do in SUN!’”
Many people know SUN Community Schools as neighborhood hubs that serve students and families. But the work goes much further than that. Alongside after-school programming that provides quality instruction and enriching extracurricular activities, SUN Community Schools connect families to food, shelter and energy bill resources, health and mental health services, and family activities and events.
Some SUN Community Schools also offer clubs for soccer, chess, anthropology and leadership, and even activities and gatherings just for parents — all guided by community input.
This year marks 25 years since SUN Community Schools first launched in 1999 with just eight community schools. Today, there are 94 SUN Community Schools across six school districts.
“We focus our services and programs through three key areas: youth and family advocacy; family stability support, which means connecting families to programs and resources that address basic needs; and early learning support, or connecting families to early childhood development services and ensuring they are prepared for school,” said Walter Rodriguez, a SUN Service System manager with the Youth and Family Services Division of Multnomah County’s Department of County Human Services.
While the SUN system provides overall enrichment opportunities for families and students, some schools offer additional, layered services, said Rodriguez. For example, an early kindergarten transition program that runs from two to three weeks helps kids and parents as they enter elementary school. Family navigators provide one-on-one support to families and connect them to resources in the community.
Thirty one SUN Community Schools also host food pantries and free food markets. The community-based organizations that run the school sites work directly with the Oregon Food Bank to stock the food shelves, said Rodriguez.
Community schools are part of a nationwide effort to bring resources and support directly to families, leveraging community assets and empowering communities. According to the Alliance for Public Schools, for every $1 invested in a community school coordinator’s salary, the return on investment exceeds $7.
“Not only have we grown, but this initiative of community schools has grown nationally,” said Rodriguez.
The SUN program is also using its 25th anniversary year as an opportunity to refocus its services, with particular interest in feedback from community members about system improvements and program implementation. Program leaders are also exploring additional resources and advocating for stable future funding.
As the program reflects on the past and plans for the future, Rosita takes care to cherish what she encounters daily.
“Just definitely seeing the smiles every time I go in and seeing them, [students] saying 'Ms. Rosita!' and coming up to me. A reward is seeing them grow up,” she said. “Currently, there are a couple of students that I had when they were second graders, and just seeing them now here at the high school and still getting to know them — and now they’re juniors — has definitely been very rewarding."
The SUN Community School after-school program has come full circle for Rosita and her family. Today, her young son attends a SUN Community School.
"As a student, and now as someone who's been involved with SUN for 10 years, I have nothing but great things to say,” said Rosita.
“I've witnessed tremendous growth within the schools we serve, and I've expanded personally and professionally. Being where I am now wouldn't have happened without SUN."