Education and Community
In real estate the key to sales and prices is "location, location, location." A housing unit in one neighborhood will be more desirable and thus worth more than the same house in another. People shop for location because they need to be near work or friends, or schools.
Good schools are very important to households with children. If you are trying to organize a cohousing community or sell an apartment, it will be one of the first things that you need to know -- what are your schools like?
Schools are a major reason that people move -- to leave a poor school district or to find a better one. Once there are young children in the house, schools become a daily pleasure or a daily headache. And schooling is happening younger in and younger, now starting at 4 with pre-kindergarten. What their parents learned at 5 or 6, children now learn at 4. And still the American school system is producing students who are behind other industrialized nations.
What is a better one? How do can a parent judge a school? What can a parent do to improve a school?
A commitment to community also means a commitment to improve the community if at all possible. Of course some schools are so poor that your children will be grown and have children of their own before they improve. But increasingly schools are improving and parents are providing the leadership.
This section of the website is a guide to some of the literature that is important to understanding schools, how they work and what makes a good school. Some of the readings are inspirational, others nuts and bolts. But since schools are fundamental to the life of a household, it will be easier to build a strong community if there is a strong school system all around.
Books, books, books. Here you will find an eclectic and, I hope, inspirational and practical list of books that I have found helpful, interesting, thought provoking, and frustrating. Books whose authors are at the forefront of change and those whose advice is as old as the family. All have some connection to building community, however remote it may seem.
The reviews and comments, unless otherwise stated are my own. The links to purchase the books at Amazon mean that I receive a few pennies for referring you. They help support the site but don't feel obligated to use them if you have a better source.
Q and A on Advertising and Getting New Members
Governance
Community Development
Sharing and Maintaining
Facilities
Tracking Community Service Hours