BUCS History

ßÙßÇÂþ»­ Community Schools Timeline

2009:

  • Broome-Tioga Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) partners with ßÙßÇÂþ»­ University and Lourdes Health Care to win the federal Safe Schools - Healthy Students (SS-HS) grant. Through this grant, a county wide initiative connected services within the community to address youth violence. 
  • Masters of Social Work (MSW) Fellows began supporting local schools through the SS-HS grant, becoming the first county-wide coordinated placement.

2013:

  • The New York State Education Reform Commission named the implementation and expansion of community schools as a recommendation. 
  • ßÙßÇÂþ»­, Lourdes Health Care, Broome County Superintendents and various other community members joined together to propose Broome County become a New York State Promise Zone in order to continue the SS-HS work after the grant had ended.

2014:

  • ßÙßÇÂþ»­ partners with BOCES and Broome County Mental Health to begin the implementation of the county-wide university assisted community school model under the Promise Zone designation. 
  • Summer Zone was developed to offer summer programming serving middle school students.
  • College of Community and Public Affairs partnered with ßÙßÇÂþ»­â€™s Center for Civic Engagement to facilitate the placement of university interns and volunteers in local school districts to support students and the community school model. 

2017:

  • Kim Myers and Dick’s Sporting Goods partnered with ßÙßÇÂþ»­ Community Schools to create B.U.S Bucks to combat chronic absenteeism.

2018:

  • ßÙßÇÂþ»­ Community Schools was established.
  • The New York State Department of Education designated ßÙßÇÂþ»­ as the Community School Technical Assistance Center (TAC) for Central and Western New York.

2019:

  • The first cohort of the Advanced Certificate Program (developed in partnership with the Children’s Aid Society National Technical Assistance Center) graduated.
  • BUCS Regional Network was developed.

2020:

  • Received Netter Center University-Assisted Community Schools Regional Training Center (NY and NJ). 

2021:

  • Full-time Regional Network Director hired to focus on local work.
  • Expansion in Spring 2021 to include Community Based and Faith Based Organizations in hard hit COVID areas (CARES). 
  • 21st Century Community Learning Centers Technical Assistance Resource Center launched fall 2021.

2023:

  • The Rural Mental Health and Family Partner Program were launched under the Mental Health Service Professional Demonstration Grant in the Fall of 2023.