Cohort 2 📍 Region 1

Richmond Public Schools is launching its Community Schools work by building the Student and Family Engagement (SAFE) Center, a dedicated hub at Clark Springs Elementary designed to serve more than 2,000 families. The implementation team has finalized the physical space and is procuring additional materials and supplies as needed, while continuing to identify people and organizations for partnership and enrichment activities.

The SAFE Center’s engagement strategies for addressing non-academic barriers to attendance include food, clothing, physical health support, resource navigation, and education and empowerment sessions. The division’s anchor event is the monthly RPS Love Market, a large-scale food pantry that distributes groceries and household staples to families across the division. Health and wellness programming includes free physical health services through partnerships with the Virginia Department of Health, Sentara Health, and Smile Garden Dentistry.