Coming Back to Belonging: Hope in a Turnaround School

The first day back from winter break always carries a mix of energy and uncertainty. In a turnaround school, especially one serving a transient population, that feeling is amplified. Enrollment shifts constantly. Students come and go, families make hard decisions, and stability can feel fragile even on the best days.

This morning reminded me why this work matters.

Before the first bell rang, I was met with hugs and big smiles from two students who had chosen to attend different schools during second quarter. At the time, they felt the new school year had too many rules. Like many middle schoolers, they wanted something that felt easier, looser, less demanding. Today, they came back. They came back ready to start over and put in the work.

In their own middle-school way, they admitted what mattered most: it wasn’t better somewhere else. They missed this school. They missed the structure. They even missed the rules. One student even said they missed me—the person who is constantly reinforcing expectations and holding the line.

I walked them to their classrooms to begin their day, and shortly after, I was greeted by two more families completing paperwork to re-enroll their children. They talked about missing friends, teachers, and the sense of belonging they felt here.

That part stayed with me.

In my time at this school, I have seen many students and families leave. Far fewer return. We live in a state where school choice is encouraged, and families have options. The fact that they chose to come back matters. It says something about culture. It says something about relationships. It says something about belonging.

From a TOSA perspective in a Title I public school, societal inequities such as underfunding, limited access to early intervention, healthcare, and social services show up daily: in attendance challenges, behavior struggles, and academic readiness gaps. Many students arrive carrying challenges rooted far outside the classroom walls. Schools like ours are asked to respond with far more than instructional supports alone.

But days like today remind me that policy, systems, and resources, while critical, are not the whole story.

Relationships matter.

Structure matters.

Consistency matters.

Letting students know they belong, even when expectations are high, matters.

The students who came back today didn’t return because things were easy here. They returned because they felt known. They felt held accountable. They felt seen. And they believed this was a place where they could try again.

That hope, the choice to come back, to start over, to belong, is what keeps me going. It tells me we are doing something right. We are building relationships. We are changing culture. And we are showing students, day by day, that this school is a place where they matter and where they are worth the work.