The collaborative efforts between a school and its community can profoundly influence educational effectiveness. An examination of the relationship between schools and their communities, with an emphasis on exploring how some schools work effectively with parents, agencies, and businesses to form sustainable partnerships, is offered in this report. Two forms of school-community collaboration are highlighted: (1) school-linked, integrated services; and (2) school-to-work initiatives. The opening essay makes the case for collaboration among schools, communities, and families and provides an overview of school- linked services and school-to-work initiatives. It emphasizes the importance of collective endeavors and provides an overview of some of the obstacles to school-community collaboration and the need to balance leadership in the schools and the community. Some promising examples of collaboration chosen from schools nationwide are offered, as are the results of research on school-community collaboration and disadvantaged youth. The high goal of collaborative efforts--the quality of relationships among people as they work together toward the common good--is outlined, followed by a brief description of emerging reforms that are influencing schools. A leadership questionnaire and an annotated bibliography on school-community collaboration are presented. (RJM)