This article chronicles the history of community schools and identifies common features, or "pillars," that are associated with high-quality community schools. It is drawn from "Community Schools as an Effective School Improvement Strategy: A Review of the Evidence," a report that examined 143 research studies on community school characteristics, along with evaluation studies of community schools as a comprehensive strategy. For each pillar, it synthesizes studies that used a range of research methodology, drawing conclusions about the findings that warrant confidence while also noting areas in which the research remains inconclusive. Research findings suggest that well-implemented community schools lead to improvement in student and school outcomes and contribute to meeting the educational needs of low-achieving students in high-poverty schools.