Flint - The Story of Our Community

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Flint - The Story of Us

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• We began our organizational journey in 2023.
• We have 6 core initiatives:
• Community Council on Education
• Flint Early Childhood Collaborative
• Network For School Excellence
• Flint Parent Collaborative
• Thrive On/ Thrive Up
• Community Education

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Flint - The Story of Us

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• Community Education- Success Mentoring School Day Strategy
• Success Mentoring Impact:
• Implemented At 13 School Sites
• Dailey Impact:
• 3 mentors
• 14 mentees
• 217 mentoring sessions
• 9,477 mentoring minutes

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1st Grade Student at Dailey’s survey response to how has Community Education helped them the most: “By being nice and helping me learn. I know she cares about me.”

The Story of Our Community

• Who are the members on your Core Four Team and/or broader team (organizations, partners, etc.)? Keiona Mosley, Chief Strategy Officer, Katherine Neitman, Data, Research, and Evaluation, Mary Heron, Navigator, Quanda Kimbrough, Community School Director, Keoshia Cook, Community School Director, and Charese McLean, Parent Collaborative Director.
• What is one thing you want us to know about your community? Our community is resilient and continues to demonstrate strength in the face of challenges. Although our district has experienced a 70% decline in student enrollment since 2000, our students, families, and staff remain committed to growth and success. With the appropriate supports, resources, and partnerships in place, students and families are better positioned to thrive, and by working together, we can create positive outcomes for our entire community.
• What’s the why behind your story — why did your community decide to implement Success Planning?
• Why does Success Planning matter to your team? Success Planning matters to our team because we see the potential in every student and family we serve. We want to increase student attendance and academic growth by identifying needs early and providing meaningful support. We also believe that connecting families to resources and opportunities helps create a thriving school community where students and families can succeed together.
• Who are the children and youth that your Success Planning initiative serves or plans to serve? We will serve students in kindergarten through 4th grade, with a strong focus on addressing chronic absenteeism. Our primary focus will be on students identified as Tier 2, providing targeted interventions and support to improve attendance, engagement, and academic success. Through proactive outreach and family partnerships, we aim to remove barriers and help students achieve positive outcomes.
• Include a brief story or reflection that connects your team to this work. One reflection that highlights the importance of this work is the story of Sam, one of our mentees. Through consistent support, mentoring, family engagement, and sending books home to strengthen literacy skills, Sam's attendance improved significantly, behavior concerns decreased, he showed academic improvement, and suspensions were reduced. As relationships strengthened, Sam's guardians joined the Parent Collaborative, attended meetings alongside the mentor, and became more involved in school events. This experience reinforced for our team that when families are connected, supported, and engaged, students are more likely to thrive academically, socially, and emotionally.

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The Story of Us

• Navigators: How are navigator implementing the strategy? Our navigators are focusing on Chronic absenteeism, academics, social emotional learning, and access to opportunities and resources. They are developing strategies on how to provide targeted support based on student needs and how to monitor progress.
• Steps that we have taken and outcomes: We created and distributed a family survey to gather feedback and identify family needs. We provided navigators with an Introduction to Parent Engagement training and created our timeline and action steps.
• Plans for Action: How are plans designed and being implemented? What has your team
• Learned? We will review attendance data from 2024–25 and 2025–26 to identify trends and areas of need. Navigators will participate in additional trainings to support families and navigate challenges. We will complete our mentoring/success planning handbook and update our collection system.
• Data Platform: What steps have been taken to strengthen your team’s data collection and sharing? How are you using data for continuous improvement? Include a few key data points that highlight progress. What challenges have you faced? How are you sharing your team’s story of progress? We will be utilizing our student data management system to collect information about each session with students and families including when it happened, with who, plans for action, and any applicable notes from the session. This information will be shared out weekly to the CSD and Core 4 team for review to ensure navigators are meeting the dosage requirements for each mentee. In addition, weekly meeting between CSD’s and all navigators will take place to discuss and review session with students and families and to ensure a closed loop on any referrals from sessions.

Flint - The Story of Now

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The Urgency

• Too many young students face barriers that lead to chronic absenteeism and missed opportunities. At Dailey 60% of students experience chronic absenteeism.
• Early intervention is essential waiting until challenges become crises is no longer an option. 29% of 3rd graders at Dailey performed at or above grade level on ELA i-Ready Winter assessments. 2% of 3rd graders at Dailey performed at or above grade level on Math i-Ready Winter assessments.

The Opportunity

• Through Success Planning, we can identify needs early, strengthen family partnerships, and connect students with the supports they need to succeed.
• By working together, schools, families, and community partners can change the trajectory of children's lives.

Our Vision

• We envision a future where Flint kids thrive because they are loved by thriving families, educated in thriving schools, and supported by thriving communities.
• As a result, Flint children will achieve greater academic success, improved well-being, and brighter life outcomes. Families will be stronger, more stable, and better equipped to support their children's growth. Schools will experience higher attendance, stronger family engagement, and improved achievement. Communities will become safer, healthier, and more connected, creating an environment where every child has the opportunity to reach their full potential.

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The Story of Rochester

Sara White-Smith, RTFA

Lisa Johnson, EDceptional

Matt Lindstrom, AMPACT

Rochester - The Story of Our Community

"One ever feels his twoness,—an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder."

— W.E.B. Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk (1903)

• This systemic tension is geographically concentrated in high-risk zip codes illustrating Du Bois’s double consciousness through modern structural isolation.

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Rochester - The Story of Us

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Rochester - The Story of Now

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Our Tulsa story will consist of our story of:

• Community
• Us
• Now

Union County - The Story of Our Community

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All means all—every child and family deserves to be seen, heard, known and valued while having the greatest opportunity to thrive.

What our youth love about Union:

Small town feel and friends

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What our youth wish were different:

“If we were growing up anywhere else, we would have a chance.” ~Scottie

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The strategy: Humanize education. Connect to community. Alignment of partners.

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Union County - The Story of Us

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System of Supports

Navigators

Plan of Action

Data Platform

• “All means all, even if it’s small.”
• Leaders as Navigators to learn
• 20 serving 42 youth and families
• RISE & Thrive, early graduation, employment secured, improved attendance/academics/discipline, engagement, opportunities, belonging, hope
• Connection to resources

• Starting with vetted district staff.
• “You can’t fast forward the trust.”
• Building the plane with the passengers as engineers before we fly it.

Learn by doing.

• We can’t fail- history of broken promises at the community level.

Union County - The Story of Now

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The

Urgency

Lessons

Learned

Most

Proud

Focus

• 100% students report wanting a “coach.” 50% report not having a trusted adult.
• 75% of students are not kindergarten ready.
• Choosing to build a future in Union County should not be a sacrifice.
• A major need for belonging

• This work will only be successful if it’s multigenerational- parents, caregivers, including elders.
• Intentional and authentic youth voice, contribution, and action are non-negotiable.

• Progress, growth, achievements, and perseverance of our students (Skye)
• System of Supports/Resource Map live and accessible to everyone (because Dale is incredible)
• Youth engagement in the build

• 125+ students
• Solidifying training/on-boarding (youth advised/created/delivered)
• Marketing awareness, buy-in, language, recruitment, aligning with Union Uplifted.
• Role and support of elders

Call to Action

• Share the initiative
• Collaborate with other mentor-ish orgs
• Step up or step aside! “Coalitions of the Willing” ~Dr. Booker

Wayne County - The Story of Our Community

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Wayne County - The Story of Our Community

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Wayne County - The Story of Our Community

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2023�Wayne County participates in the Wallace Foundation Advancing Opportunities project, exploring national place-based models and launches the NYS Community Schools Thruway Coalition

2026

Wayne County joins the Wallace Foundation Advancing Opportunities for Adolescents Initiative.

Formal backbone agreement and structure established.

2024

Initiatives expand through grants, including local funders ESL Foundation, Rochester Areas Community Health Foundation, United Way

2025

Wayne County receives notification that their FSCS funding would not be renewed based on application content, not performance, cutting $6 million over the next two years.

2025

Wayne County Community Schools joins and attends the Harvard Ed Redesign Institute

Wayne County - The Story of Our Community

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Over time, community schools staff became trusted adults for students:

Wayne County - The Story of Us: Hope Dealers

Wayne County - The Story of Us: Hope Dealers

WCCS strives to provide cradle to career pathways and supports for all youth and their families. We build authentic relationships, implement best practices, and use innovative problem solving to navigate barriers in and out of school, promoting success.

Wayne County - The Story of Us: Hope Dealers

- Small but notable increases in scores on overall Hope Scale and Agency and Pathways subscales across all three pilot sites after only 6 months.�

- Results for 2 of three sites shown here - all were small but statistically significant gains.

"I enjoyed getting to talk about my goal, as I don't share my goal with most of my peers or members of the community."

- 7th Grade Student

Wayne County - The Story of Now

The Story of Our Community

Wilmington - The Story of Our Community

Students in our Goal Planning for Success (GPS) program started the year with significant academic and attendance challenges (65% were 2+ grade levels behind in math and reading; 45% were chronically absent)

Wilmington - The Story of Us: Our Strategy

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Culture Change

• Established a whole-child, whole-family approach through coordinated Success Planning 80 students - 35 parents/caregivers.
• Strengthened collaboration between schools, Navigators, families, and community partners.
• 74% of staff value the GPS program and support its continuation.

Plan of Action

• Implemented individualized Success Plans with SMART goals for students and families.
• 76% of students completed personal goals, 54% completed academic goals.
• 100% of participating families engaged in goal setting.

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Systems of Support

• Expanded wraparound supports including Family Navigators, employment, healthcare, transportation, and financial assistance.
• 82% of families are employed, 100% have access to primary care, and 8 families received financial assistance.

Data Platforms

• Used attendance, behavior, i-Ready, SMART goals, and survey data to guide interventions and measure progress.
• Established a foundation for shared data and continuous improvement across partners.

Information Sharing

• Increased collaboration among partner organizations through regular meetings and shared planning.
• Year 2 focus is improving communication with teachers, families, and partners through shared resources, referrals, and data

Wilmington - The Progress We’ve Made

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Progress

Implemented individualized Success Plans with SMART goals for students and families.

Established a data sharing agreement and foundation for continuous improvement across partners..

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The Wise Family

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Housing instability caused attendance to drop to 33% in Trimester 2. GPS Navigators built trust and connected the family to stable housing. Attendance rose by 84% by Trimester 3.

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The Johnson Family

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GPS Connected a parent to employment services after reduced work hours provided transportation assistance. The Student achieved academic goals and was accepted into their first-choice high school.

Wilmington - The Story of Now

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What did Year 1 teach your team?

• Relationships drive student success.
• Real Family engagement strengthens student outcomes
• Data should continuously guide interventions.
• Staff communication must become more intentional and consistent.
• More communication, Better resource coordination
• Timing is everything!

Focus for Year 2

• Strengthen communication with teachers and school staff.
• Continue improving attendance, behavior, and academic achievement.
• Expand awareness of GPS throughout the school community.
• Build on family engagement and wraparound supports.
• Revisit our Navigational approach to support grade bands and family/child cohorts