Cohort 1 📍 Region 2

York County designed its Community Schools program around the idea that belonging drives attendance. All three schools — Queens Lake Middle, Yorktown Middle, and Magruder Elementary — paid stipends to staff to build programming that gives students a reason to come to school, supported by dedicated coordinators, implementation teams, and professional development on community school strategies. The division is working toward a 10% increase in student attendance and a 5% increase in family engagement by the end of the grant period.

Each school shapes what belonging looks like for its community. At Yorktown Middle, student-versus-staff dodgeball is earned through attendance, behavior, and grades. At Queens Lake, after-school clubs drew standing-room-only attendance at their very first meeting. Magruder Elementary, the newest addition and the division’s first elementary community school, is where that belonging starts.