Preservice teachers spend significant time in schools, observing, tutoring children, and learning to teach. On-site field experiences introduce aspiring teachers to life in schools, and are especially important for teachers who take their first teaching positions in urban schools. However, most preservice teachers spend little time in the community surrounding the school to understand the background and experiences of the children they will be serving. Teacher education programs do not always bring the aspect of the community into their programs. The authors of this article are guided by the beliefs that to meet the needs of the individual child, the teacher must see and appreciate the community where the child lives. In this article, the authors describe the community-based model of teacher preparation that they developed and the results of its evaluation. In the Community-Based Model (CBM), the community is the foundation upon which other pieces of the program rest; it becomes the crucial piece of the development of the new teacher. New teachers have a strong context as they apply what they are learning about the culture and history of the children in their classrooms with what they are learning about how to teach. The CBM includes three aspects of communities of practice: (1) opportunities for preservice teachers to develop an understanding of and begin to share the history and cultural perspective of the community of the children; (2) situational learning; and (3) reflective practice. These three contributed to creating culturally responsive, highly qualified, teachers for urban schools. (Contains 1 figure and 6 tables.)