The Site Based Leadership Team is the foundation of a community school and is based in collaborative leadership. The site-based leadership team is a governing body that develops a shared vision and goals and create participatory practices for distributing responsibilities. The SBLT is an interdisciplinary, school-based leadership team that includes the school principal, the community school coordinator, teachers, other school employees, families, community partners, tribal partners, nonprofit organizations, unions and neighboring community residents that guides collaborative planning, implementation and oversight. This Preparatory team should be organized, recruited and have at least some meetings before the end of the first-year planning grant.
The SBLT co-create a culture of professional learning, collective trust, and shared responsibility as they make decisions together. Members of the school staff, principal, CS coordinator, community partners, families and staff sit as members on this team. This team is closely related to the key practice of collaborative leadership, shared power and voice, which provides the relational “glue” that connects and reinforces the other Key Practices, making it foundational and critical for the success of a community school strategy. Such collaborative efforts necessitate honest conversations around identity, power, and turf and can build pride and power among traditionally marginalized communities.