How Rye Middle School Built a Stronger Sense of Belonging
As a School Partner for many years, Rye Middle School offers a strong example of what can happen when a school sustains attention on belonging over time. Since beginning its partnership with Challenge Success in 2019, the school has continued to use the Challenge Success School Change Process to build on multiple schoolwide efforts aimed at increasing students’ sense of belonging. This year, the team’s work focused on making sense of those trends, identifying what may be supporting student experience, and considering how to deepen and sustain that progress going forward.
An important first step for every school in the partnership is to form their change team, which meets with the Challenge Success Coach throughout the school year. Because the Challenge Success Change Process prioritizes student voice and includes multiple perspectives, cultures, and identities, all teams include students alongside staff and parents/caregivers. The 2025-26 Rye team included:
- 4 students
- 3 parents
- 3 teachers
- 2 administrators
Center the Student Experience
When Rye Middle School initially surveyed students in 2018-19, they were able to understand where students were thriving and where they needed more support.
The team examined their data, which revealed many bright spots as well as areas for growth:
Define an Improvement Aim
In 2025-26, the focus of Rye Middle School’s partnership with Challenge Success was that more students would experience a strong sense of community where all students feel seen, included, and connected to one another, not just within their immediate friend groups.
With support from their Challenge Success Coach, the team developed a clear vision for the work ahead:
“Our team exists to help every member of the Rye community — students and adults — feel like they truly belong and are engaged in joyful, meaningful learning. By using data to understand student well-being, belonging, and engagement, we co-create solutions that center student voice and uplift the whole community.”
In Phase 2, the team built on Rye Middle School’s belonging vision by identifying change ideas, supporting implementation, amplifying existing efforts, and monitoring progress over time. This process involves brainstorming, creative ideation, consulting with their coach, using practices from the SPACE Framework for School Change™, and collaborating to create an action plan. Across the school, Rye Middle tested several approaches aimed at strengthening connection and community.
“What stands out about Rye Middle School is how seriously they took the idea that belonging isn’t just about having friends. When the data showed that students were connected within their own groups but not across them, the team rethought how students spend time together during the day. The Chromebook ban at lunch, the Garnet and Black Club, and the peer tutors were intentional choices about how to create more moments of real connection. Seeing belonging go up year over year shows me that the changes are landing and energizes the team to keep moving forward.”
Design + Test Change Ideas
Reflect on Progress
In the spring of 2025-26, the team conducted a follow-up Challenge Success survey to assess progress on their belonging goals. Students reporting high levels of belonging increased from 57% in 2018-19 to 64% in 2025-26.
Measurable Improvements in Student Belonging from 2019 to 2026
Note: We did not test for statistical significance when measuring change over time.
“Partnering with Challenge Success helped us to take a step back and see things with a wider lens. It was so helpful to review the data with Jennifer and our team so that we could set clear goals for our future work together. Looking at the data helped us to refine not only our goals through Challenge Success, but also align the other work we are doing throughout the district with the curriculum, instructional changes, and social/emotional programming.”
Rye Middle School is encouraged by progress in belonging and they are committed to building on that foundation as well as understanding the underlying drivers of well-being and engagement, such as homework load and academic pressure. The school will continue to work with Challenge Success, leveraging the Leadership Consultation service that includes monthly 1:1 coaching and an on-site day.