Whitesboro School District participates in Connected Community Schools program

WHITESBORO, N.Y. — The Whitesboro Central School District, which serves a population of about 40,000 people, has joined the Connected Community Schools program this 2021-22 academic school year. 

The partnership will serve the district’s four elementary schools — Deerfield, Hart’s Hill, Marcy, and Westmoreland Road.

Connected Community Schools (CCS) is a Rome–based initiative that combines the efforts of more than 100 businesses and community-based agencies pursuing solutions to a wide-ranging array of challenges facing students, their families, and the school community. In each district, CCS helps to coordinate, streamline, and deliver needed services to students and families so that students can succeed despite personal obstacles. 

Examples of areas where the CCS team can help include housing, food insecurity, medical and dental issues, and mental health. The initiative has been especially valuable for local families during the
ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, CCS says. For example, last year, its school-based hub in Rome pivoted to consolidate efforts into its central hub in Staley, which became the largest food pantry in Oneida County, assisting 56,000 people across Central New York, helping families meet nutritional needs during school closures and beyond. 

The initiative also provides embedded student and family engagement and classroom programming, where community experts are invited to educate and organize engagement opportunities for students and families. 

CCS says it has established community hubs at all four elementary schools to provide families with no-cost essentials such as food items, hygiene needs, and school supplies that are available to any student or family with need. This can make the difference between a student being ready to learn and participate rather than worry about basics, while also supporting teachers and staff who have taken on the task of buying these items out of pocket, CCS contends.

“Over the last 18 months, we all have learned that struggles, individually or globally, do not discriminate,” Danielle Martin, co-leader of the Connected Community Schools Initiative, said in a release. “CCS is excited to embrace the partnership with the Whitesboro district to ensure that students, families, and the community have the supports that they need to be successful.”

To commemorate their partnership, CCS and the Whitesboro Central School District held a ceremonial ribbon-cutting event at the Marcy Elementary School on Nov. 3.