Schools exist to develop the capacity of students to create meaningful and purposeful lives. To do that, young people need to feel in control of their lives, and that takes a shift in how schools function. Regional student agency networks bring school and district teams together to reimagine learning, shifting real control to students and transforming culture in the process. Through expert-led sessions, collaborative inquiry, and authentic student voice, teams build the conditions where student agency flourishes.
The Western New York Student Agency Collaborative brings this model to the Buffalo region for 2026–2027. Anchored at Erie 1 and Erie 2 BOCES, ten-member district teams meet across the year to learn side by side, support student focus groups, and turn what they hear into plans for making learning more meaningful.
Why a cohort model
The cohort model is what makes this work endure. Diverse teams learn side by side, converting varied perspectives and resources into shared strength. By pooling time, funding, and space, districts access opportunities, like national experts, that would be difficult to reach alone. The model delivers high-quality learning close to home, reducing travel while increasing impact. Just as important, it creates momentum: a shared identity, a common purpose, and a level of camaraderie that lifts the work beyond any single school or district.
This model is reinforced by the Student Power Summit, the only national conference dedicated to student agency. Talent cultivated in regional networks strengthens the Summit, while the Summit in turn fuels local growth, creating a continuous cycle of learning, contribution, and impact.
The 2026–2027 cohorts
Grand Island, Springville, Alden, Hamburg
Cleveland Hill, Cheektowaga, Amherst, Lackawanna
Gowanda, Falconer
Teams of ten meet for full days (8:30 a.m.–4:00 p.m.) three times across the year, building toward a shared culminating gathering each spring.
- Session 1. Late September 2026 — cohorts launch on consecutive days.
- Session 2. Mid-November 2026 — teams return to deepen the work.
- Session 3. Early March 2027 — refining plans and sharing progress.
- “All Hands In”. May 11, 2027, Erie 1 BOCES — every cohort, plus new districts and stakeholders, gather for the year-end culminating experience.
Listening first, with Human Restoration Project
Every district has stories worth hearing. In partnership with the Human Restoration Project, the network trains student facilitators to host peer conversations that surface what is already working and where there is room to grow. Using the Polaris listening platform, teams gather empathy-interview data from hundreds of voices, then bring students into the analysis itself, helping identify themes, interpret findings, and co-create recommendations alongside educators.
A day of listening
Districts design the questions they want richer data on, train student facilitators, and schedule empathy interviews across schools.
Students share their voices
Structured peer conversations, one-on-one interviews, or written responses, in whatever format feels natural, recorded for analysis.
Polaris reveals what matters
Themes surface across hundreds of conversations, with every finding linked back to real student audio and mapped to research.
Part of Learning InspirED's regional student agency networks, in collaboration with Erie 1 & Erie 2 BOCES and the Human Restoration Project. This work mirrors the Jennings-supported cohort in Ohio, extending the model to Western New York.