Roy Clark Elementary School was named a National Community School, one of only three in the country to be honored by the National Coalition for Community Schools in Washington, D.C. in 2011. In May, 2012, then Prinicpal Theresa Kiger, now executive director of Elementary Education for Union Public Schools, was a featured speaker for the national program, highlighting the accomplishments of Clark - which has become a national role model. Since then, Kiger has served as a national speaker at other conferneces.
Community schools provide a web of support and resources to improve the academic, emotional, physical and social development of its students.
At Roy Clark, the results have been staggering. Absenteeism has dropped to near zero. Reading and math scores have risen dramatically. And the school has increased its parent-teacher conference participation to 100 percent.
"We have seen enormous gains in student achievement because we're looking at each individual child," Kiger said.
What is a Community School?
Union Public Schools participates in the The Center for Community Schools Strategies - Community Service Council. The community school’s philosophy supports school personnel, parents, neighbors and community partners working together so our children can participate in a strong instructional program by living and learning in safe and supportive environments.
See Community Schools for district information.
Core components
Early Childhood Care and Development
Health and Health Education
Clark was the first school in Union to pilot program offering health serviices and the success has lead to an expansion of the program throughout the district.
With the 2019 closure of the OU Physicians clinics at Roy Clark and Rosa Parks elementary schools, affected families have another option that is available, however. Community Health Connection is a full-service family practice clinic offering a broad array of services, including dental, prenatal, women's health, pediatrics, family medicine and behavioral health services and a full-service pharmacy.
Mental Health/Social Services
Family/ Community Engagement
Youth Development/Out-of-School-Time
Neighborhood Development
Life-Long Learning