Educational and community leaders can use a community aware policy perspective in the quest for educational opportunity, equity, and community vitality. This school-community conceptual framework presents four elements of the school-community relationship that highlight the intersection between the educational and community levels of analysis, as well as the economic and social role that schools play. Rural schools and communities are the focus of this framework; however, it can be applicable in the practice and study of school-community relationships in other settings. It can be used by educational leaders and researchers to surface long-standing tensions, agreements or disagreements about the role of the school, and voices that may often be silenced in local educational decision-making.