Chirlane McCray, the first lady of New York City, attended a community school forum on June 10 at PS 335/MS 584 in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. The forum brought together more than 60 parents to discuss the programs and partnerships they’d like to pursue at the community school. PS 335 has been part of the UFT’s Community Learning Schools Initiative since 2013. Mayor Bill de Blasio has been a champion of the community schools, which provide wraparound services for families, including health clinics, adult education classes and afterschool programs for children. The UFT launched its Community Learning Schools Initiative in 2012 in partnership with the City Council and nonprofit organizations. Since taking office in 2014, Mayor de Blasio has vowed to open more than 100 community schools. During the forum, parents talked about the community school services and programs they used and how to enhance them. “By engaging the community in identifying the services most important to them and their families, we have an opportunity to better align resources with the school’s operations,” said Karen Alford, the UFT vice president for elementary schools who leads the UFT’s Community Learning Schools Initiative. Marisol Peña, the UFT educational liaison for the elementary division of community learning schools, facilitated the discussion. “We heard some great things,” Peña said. Parents spoke about the Young Scholars program, swimming and computer classes that their children enjoyed and cooking classes for adults. On the wishlist for children, parents would like to see more computer courses, one-to-one tutoring, summer enrichment classes and additional karate classes; for adults, they’d like more cooking classes, business programs and English lessons for non-English speakers. Many also said they’d like family counseling, and counseling geared toward single parents.