Community Schools / Overview

Community Schools Information Page

In 2016, Erie's Public Schools, in partnership with United Way of Erie County, announced the pilot of Community Schools at five EPS sites: East Middle School, Edison Elementary, McKinley Elementary, Pfeiffer-Burleigh Elementary and Strong Vincent Middle School. Since the initial community schools pilot in 2016, Diehl Elementary, Harding Elementary, and Perry Elementary have all been announced as community schools. Diehl was announced in November of 2018, and Harding and Perry elementary schools were announced in May of 2019.

Due to the reconfiguration of the district in 2017, and the closing of Emerson-Gridley and Wayne, two of these pilot sites were moved to newly named community schools at East Middle School and Strong Vincent Middle School.

In 2021, the district and United Way announced that the community school model would expand to all other district elementary and middle schools. By July 2022, that expansion was complete. Lincoln, Grover Cleveland, Jefferson, and JoAnna Connell elementary schools and Wilson Middle School are now community schools.

In July 2023, the district, United Way and the Erie Foundation announced that a $2 million grant from the foundation's Susan Hirt Hagen Center for Transformational Philanthropy fund would help launch the community school model at Erie High School, creating a full preK-12 continuum. The model launched at Erie High School in the fall of 2024.

Community Schools are a strategy for organizing school and community resources around student success. Each Community School is both a place and a set of partnerships between the school and other community resources. Its integrated focus on academics, services, supports and opportunities leads to improved student learning, stronger families and healthier communities. Schools become centers of the community, open to everyone, all day, every day, evenings and weekends.

Each community school has a corporate and funding partner who provides financial resources to support the hiring of Community School Directors at each location. The Corporate and Funding Partners for our community schools are: Wabtec Corporation (Edison Elementary), Hamot Health Foundation (East Middle School), Highmark (Strong Vincent Middle School), Women United for Community Schools (McKinley Elementary), an anonymous donor and Erie Insurance Group (Pfeiffer-Burleigh School), Eriez Magnetics (Harding and Perry Elementary Schools), and Larson Texts/Big Ideas Learning (JoAnna Connell Elementary). Diehl Elementary School has the corporate partner support of multiple local businesses: Accudyn Products Inc., American Tinning & Galvanizing, Custom Engineering, Lincoln Recycling, Reddog Industries, Inc., Smith Provision Company, Inc. and Team Hardinger. Lincoln Elementary School is supported by a coalition of five financial institutions: Erie Bank, Erie Federal Credit Union, Northwest Bank, Marquette Savings Bank and PNC.

Corporate and funding partners have not yet been named for Grover Cleveland and Jefferson elementary schools and Wilson Middle School.

Erie's Public Schools and United Way of Erie County are also pleased to announce the selection of Lead Partners for each site who will employ the Community School Directors and lead the work of organizing services through the community school strategy. These Lead Partners were chosen through an open RFQ process and were matched with schools based on student/family needs and identified services. The Lead Partners for the district's community schools are Achievement Center (Edison Elementary), Safe Harbor Behavioral Health Of UPMC Hamot (East Middle School), Edinboro University (McKinley Elementary), Gannon University (Strong Vincent Middle School), Family Services of NWPA (Pfeiffer-Burleigh School) and Mercyhurst University (Diehl Elementary), YMCA of Greater Erie (Harding Elementary) and Erie Family Center (Perry Elementary). Lead partners have not yet been named for Lincoln, Grover Cleveland, Jefferson and JoAnna Connell elementary schools and Wilson Middle School.

East Middle School




Lead Partner Corporate Partner

Edison Elementary School

Lead Partner Corporate Partner

Diehl Elementary School



Lead Partner    Corporate Partners

Harding Elementary School

Lead Partner Corporate Partner

Lincoln Elementary School

Corporate Partners

McKinley Elementary School



Lead Partner Corporate Partner

Perry Elementary School



Lead Partner Corporate Partner

Pfeiffer-Burleigh Elementary School



Lead Partner Corporate Partner

Strong Vincent Middle School

Lead Partner Corporate Partners

JoAnna Connell Elementary School

Corporate Partner

Community School Director Contact Information

Chris Fox, Community School Director of Diehl Elementary School

Rachel Pierce, Community School Coordinator of East Middle School

Tami Krzeszewski-Conway, Community School Director of Edison Elementary School

Sharnae Dunston, Community School Director of Grover Cleveland Elementary School

Shanna Potter, Community School Director of Harding Elementary School

Ashley Taylor, Community School Director of Jefferson Elementary School
Liz Nies, Community School Director of Lincoln Elementary School

Amy Grande, Community School Director of McKinley Elementary School

Scot Galloway, Community School Director of Perry Elementary School

Meghan Easter, Community School Director of Pfeiffer-Burleigh Elementary School

Katrina Byrd, Community School Director of Strong Vincent Middle School

Julia Boyd, Community School Director of Wilson Middle School

Community School Director of JoAnna Connell Elementary School: TBD

Community School Directors of Erie High School:

Meghan Easter (lead)

Bryan Barton

Shateria Franklin

Kane Patron

ERIE'S PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Community Schools

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