Connected Community Schools

What Connected Community Schools does

Connected Community Schools (CCS) is a nonprofit organization headquartered in Rome, New York, that operates a community school coordination network connecting K-12 students and families in Central New York with locally available health, social, and material resources. The organization was founded in 2015 with initial community school programming at Francis Bellamy Elementary in Rome, supported by the AFT Innovation Fund, and was formally organized under its current name shortly thereafter. Services are delivered through two complementary channels: school-based resource hubs embedded within 13 partner school districts and 52 schools, and a centralized ~18,000-square-foot Impact Center at 207 N. James Street in the former Old City Hall building that extends access beyond school hours.

The core product is an integrated service offering rather than a modular software platform. Programmatic components include food pantries (operated with the Food Bank of Central New York), clothing closets, mental health service linkage, academic support, family engagement, and the LiNK Self-Referral Program that routes families to resource experts. Annual community events include the Connected Visionary Awards, Back-to-School Bash (presented in partnership with National Grid), Connect-A-Kid Holiday Assistance, and the F3 Block Party. The organization has distributed 923,000 meals and serves over 25,000 students; in the 2021-22 school year it served 15,000 students across 9 districts, indicating meaningful expansion.

CCS is a 501(c)-style nonprofit funded through charitable donations (including monthly recurring online donations), event sponsorships with tiers ranging from $250 to $7,500, and grants from institutional funders such as the AFT Innovation Fund and the Community Foundation of Herkimer and Oneida Counties. Services are free to students and families. The organization is led by two co-Executive Directors, Melissa Roys and Danielle Martin, with a team of 51-100 employees including directors of Impact, Operations, and Rome Projects. It is governed independently, with no parent company, private equity, or venture capital involvement.

Name

Connected Community Schools

Legal name

Connected Community Schools

Website

https://connectedcommunityschools.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Connected Community Schools is a Central New York nonprofit that coordinates community school resource hubs across 13 school districts and 52 schools, serving over 25,000 K-12 students and families through embedded school-based services and a central Impact Center in Rome, NY.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Education Support Services

NAICS

Educational Support Services (6117), Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

K–12 Support & School Improvement Nonprofits (BPAGADAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Community Centers & Neighborhood Support Services (BPAGAEAL), After-School Academic Support Programs (Centers & Clubs) (EDAJALAM)

Keywords

• Community school services
• K-12 student support
• Family resource coordination
• Nonprofit education services
• School-based resource hubs

Headquarters

HQ city

Rome

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Fundraising: Nonprofit organization that operates through charitable donations from individuals, organizations, and community partners. Accepts online donations through their website with options for monthly recurring donations.
2. Event Sponsorships: Revenue generated through sponsorship packages for annual events such as the Connected Visionary Awards and Back-to-School Bash. Multiple sponsorship tiers ranging from $250 to $7,500.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Connected Community Schools operates a nonprofit community school coordination network that links 13 K-12 school districts (52 schools, 25,000+ students) in Central New York with local agencies, services, organizations, businesses, places of worship, and community resources. Service delivery occurs through embedded school-based resource hubs (food pantries, clothing closets, mental health clinics, academic support) and a centralized Impact Center in Rome, NY that extends services beyond school hours for working families.

Product overview

Connected Community Schools is a nonprofit organization operating as a single, unified service offering rather than a platform-plus-modules architecture. The core offering is a community school coordination network that brings together 13 school districts (52 schools, serving over 25,000 students) in Central New York. Key service components include the Impact Center (centralized resource hub), LiNK Self-Referral Program (service connection), school-based resource hubs, food pantries, holiday assistance, and community events (Back-to-School Bash, Visionary Awards, F3 Block Party). All offerings work together as an integrated support ecosystem addressing barriers to learning for students and families.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Connected Community Schools Network A community school coordination network that connects K-12 school districts with local agencies, services, organizations, businesses, places of worship, and community resources to support students and families in Central New York.
• Impact Center A centralized community resource hub located at 207 N. James Street in Rome, NY, that co-locates nonprofit agencies and community resources in a single location to connect citizens with services addressing unmet resource needs, including extended hours for working families.
• LiNK Self-Referral Program

Quantifiable outcome

• 923,000 meals distributed to students and classrooms
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers13 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• National GridcoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 19 August 2025National Grid presented the 2025 Back-to-School Bash as part of their statewide initiative 'Empowering Futures: One Backpack at a Time.' The partnership supports distribution of backpacks and school supplies to students across 13 connected districts.
• Oneida CountycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOneida County partners with Connected Community Schools for the Connect-A-Kid Holiday Assistance Initiative, collecting and distributing essential items and gifts to students and families in need during the holiday season.
• Cornell Cooperative ExtensionminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRecipient of the 2025 Connected Classroom Award recognizing their contribution to educational programming within connected schools.
• Food Bank of Central New YorkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKaren Belcher, CEO of Food Bank of Central New York, received the 2025 Connected Impact Award. The organization provides food resources distributed through connected school pantries.
• Safe Schools Mohawk ValleycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAnne Lansing, CEO of Safe Schools Mohawk Valley, received the 2025 Connected Partnership Award. Organization collaborates on school safety and student support programs.
• City of Rome, NYcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMunicipal partner providing support for community school initiatives. The Impact Center is housed in a former city building.
• Rome City School DistrictcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner school district where the community schools model was originally launched in Rome, NY in 2015 at Francis Bellamy Elementary School.
• Rome Alliance for EducationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal education foundation partner supporting community school initiatives in Rome.
• CNY Health Home Network (CNYHHN)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJane Vail, Executive Director of CNYHHN, collaborated on the Impact Hub concept. Organization works with area BOCES to provide linkage to students through the community school network.
• Compassion Coalition, Inc.minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommunity partner providing support services through the community school network during the COVID-19 pandemic response.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Big Brothers Big Sisters of America: National youth-mentoring nonprofit operating school-based mentoring programs across NY State with comparable district partnership structures and similar donor/sponsorship revenue mix. Operates at significantly larger scale; represents both a model and a competitor for school-embedded student services.

Direct peers

• Communities in Schools: National nonprofit operating the same integrated student services / community schools model inside K-12 school districts. Operates in 25+ states with similar partnership-driven site coordination and tiered sponsor/foundation funding. The most direct strategic counterpart to CCS's service model.
• Children's Aid Society: Major NYC nonprofit running community schools with school-based health, mental health, food, and after-school programming co-located in district schools. Comparable hub-and-spoke architecture and similarly union-funded. Operating at larger scale in NYC, but the most similar service portfolio to CCS.
• Boys & Girls Clubs of the Mohawk Valley: Regional youth-services nonprofit located in the same geographic market (Utica/Mohawk Valley, NY). Provides after-school programming, food assistance, and family support to K-12 youth. Directly competes with CCS for the same regional philanthropic and grant dollars serving the same student population.

Regional players

• Family Services of Central New York: Multi-service nonprofit in the same Syracuse/CNY region providing mental health, family counseling, and case management to K-12 youth and families. Operates with similar funding mix (donations, county contracts, grants). Likely partners and sometimes competes with CCS for mental-health service contracts in shared districts.
• YMCA of the Greater Tri-Cities: Regional YMCA serving the same CNY geography with after-school programming, food distribution, and youth development services. Competes for after-school and family-engagement contracts with local school districts in a manner directly comparable to CCS's extended-hours Impact Center offerings.
• United Way of the Mohawk Valley: Regional United Way affiliate coordinating community resources, school-based programs, and food security initiatives across the same upstate NY footprint. Competes for corporate sponsorships and donor dollars while running overlapping family-support programming.

Others

• Food Bank of Central New York: Strategic supplier/wholesale food provider that supplies the food pantries CCS operates inside partner schools. Strictly upstream — not a competitor for end-family services — but a critical input partner whose funding or operational changes directly affect CCS's 923,000-meal program.
• AFT (American Federation of Teachers) Innovation Fund: National union-affiliated fund that provided original capital and case-study validation for the Rome community-schools model. Not a competitor but a strategic funder whose continued investment in the community-schools thesis is a key enabling input for CCS's expansion roadmap.
• National Grid Foundation: Corporate foundation of National Grid presenting the 2025 Back-to-School Bash as part of statewide CSR 'Empowering Futures' programming. A critical repeat corporate sponsor and a relationship template that could be replicated with other regional utilities and employers for scaling event-sponsorship revenue.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/CCS_Connected
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC9Yloi4NEFycoBJxORfVokw
• Facebookfacebook.com/ConnectedCommunitySchools
• Instagraminstagram.com/connected_community_schools
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/connected-community-schools

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Connected Community Schools