Cohort 1 📍 Region 7

Both of Norton City’s schools — Norton Elementary and J.I. Burton High School — reached 100 percent progress on their social-emotional learning goals in the first quarter, the result of a Community Schools investment in calming spaces, expanded counseling, and access to community-based mental health providers at both buildings. Seventy-nine students receive targeted support, 47 of them through intensive case management.

At J.I. Burton High, the Brighter Paths program brings substance use awareness and healthy decision-making programming into the school. At Norton Elementary, an in-school clinic serves students individually while a schoolwide social-emotional learning curriculum reaches every classroom. The Raiders After-School Program extends that reach, serving approximately 100 students every day with academic tutoring, STEM activities, social-emotional learning, and arts enrichment at no cost to families.

Student Support Branch: Emotional & Mental Health

Many students experience challenges that impact their emotional well-being and readiness to learn. Community Schools provide mental and behavioral health supports through school-based staff and embedded providers, alongside partnerships with community organizations. Supports may include individual counseling, small group interventions, and schoolwide efforts to build awareness and strengthen staff capacity. Together, these approaches create a supportive environment that fosters trust, connection, and student well-being.

Norton City

Cohort 1 📍 Region 7 Both of Norton City’s schools — Norton Elementary and J.I. Burton High School — reached 100 percent progress on their social-emotional learning goals in the first quarter, the result of a Community Schools investment in calming spaces, expanded counseling, and access to community-based mental health providers at both buildings. Seventy-nine

Dickenson County

Cohort 1 📍 Region 7 In Dickenson County, the challenge that shapes every part of the Community Schools work is distance to mental health providers and community services, and the division’s three Ridgeview schools operate as a unified system to close it. The Health Wagon mobile clinic brings preventive healthcare directly to school sites. Social-emotional

Carroll County

Cohort 1 📍 Region 7 Carroll County brought twenty years of experience partnering with its local community to the Community Schools work. The Schools and Pools program with Carroll Wellness Center has been bringing water safety education to students since 2004. Through the Community Schools grant, the division formalized that work, adding a dedicated coordinator