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 learning programming starts in kindergarten with Sesame Street in Communities for grades K through 2, continues with Second Step through grade 6, and extends to Brighter Paths substance use prevention at the high school. Students identified for more targeted programming achieved 100 percent goal progress in the first quarter.

Access to career experiences follows the same principle. At the high school, 18 eleventh graders attended EO Career Commons for mock interviews and resume writing, preparing them for opportunities beyond the county. Afterschool programming across all three buildings serves as the gateway to sustained support, from SEL to case management to basic needs. Ridgeview Elementary is pursuing van transportation so that all students, regardless of their distance from school, can access it and benefit from it.