Increasingly, school systems and communities are adopting the community schools approach as a core education reform strategy. In these places, new bridges are being built with the early childhood education system. With rising interest in early childhood issues within the community schools field, along with growing national attention to 0–8 strategies and reading by third grade, the Coalition for Community schools sought to learn more about how community schools are working to make connections with the early childhood field. In spring 2011, a Coalition team conducted site visits to four communities (Cincinnati, OH; Evansville, IN; Multnomah County, OR; and Tulsa, OK) that have been implementing the community school strategy for at least six years and have strong or emerging relationships with the early childhood community. Multnomah County and Tulsa were both already participating in an Institute for Educational Leadership[1]sponsored project, funded by the Kellogg Foundation, to increase linkages between early childhood programs and the school system through community schools. Cincinnati and Evansville have both been creating their own strategies to bridge the two systems. Researchers conducted semi-structured interviews and focus groups with over 100 key stakeholders across the four sites, including superintendents, community leaders, principals, parents, initiative leaders, funders, community partners, and others. Interviews were augmented by observations of approximately 15 meetings, site visits to over 10 community schools and early childhood facilities, and an analysis of pertinent documents. In addition, the Coalition administered a survey to 17 experienced community school initiatives to capture the broader scope of engagement with early childhood issues across the field. This report summary provides an overview of community schools, demonstrates the need to invest and link to early childhood programs, describes the case study sites, and offers cross-site lessons. (author abstract)