Eunice Kennedy Shriver

A Message from Eunice Kennedy Shriver

Dear Colleagues:

Since the evolution of Community of Caring from a hospital-based teen pregnancy prevention program to a school-based, comprehensive K-l2 character education program, Community of Caring has been widely regarded by schools as an umbrella for the entire school program. Just as spring brings renewal to the earth, Community of Caring is an ongoing process for bringing renewal to schools. In 2002 we celebrated our 20th anniversary, and as we now move into our third decade of serving schools, our singular approach continues to re-energize schools, and to help children and young people grow up healthy, responsible and caring.

When Community of Caring began more than 20 years ago, it was unique in focusing on core universal values as a way of helping young people grow into good and caring adults. So why is Community of Caring still exceptional more than twenty years later? Our uniqueness is captured in our focus on the whole school, in creating a caring school community for everyone, and in teaching values across the curriculum. We are not a recipe, or a "character in a box" approach. We are the only values-based, school renewal effort that includes ALL children in a caring school community. We are K-l2 character education with a unique focus on disabilities, and no child is ever left behind.

And our schools continue to adopt Community of Caring for different purposes, because of its comprehensiveness and flexibility. Today we are being told by schools that they chose the Community of Caring framework for many different reasons, including:

• character and citizenship development, and a values-based curriculum
• improved school attendance and academic performance
• better school climate, more caring relationships and a caring school community
• greater acceptance of diversity, including students with mental retardation
• safer school environments, including bullying and violence prevention
• teen pregnancy prevention and a strong abstinence message
• tobacco, drug and alcohol prevention
  
  

Dr. William Sullivan, of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, said:

American education is finally beginning to catch up with what Community of Caring schools have known for a very long time, and that is, that school climate and the way in which a given school functions, and the stronger the sense of community in a school, the better educational outcomes are likely to be.

Community of Caring is a framework that will continue to support children, schools, families and communities. It is a process that helps schools develop the best kinds of educational programs for their students. It is a movement that will help schools become the kinds of schools they have known they could be all along. Toward that end, with energy and focus, we will stay the course.