Roughly 20 administrators and educators from the Issaquah School District, Lake Washington School District and Eastside Catholic gathered Tuesday morning with Sammamish Community YMCA board members for a community breakfast. On the agenda was discussing ways local schools could partner with YMCA youth programs.

“We really want [the Sammamish Y] to be a community gathering place,” said Dave Mayer, executive director of the Sammamish Y. “With the partnership with the city of Sammamish, we think we’re on our way to doing that.”

Following a tour of the Sammamish Community Y facilities, which opened its doors last April, Sammamish Y board members discussed the various youth programs it offers at the elementary, middle school and high school levels.

The Y will have an after-school enrichment program at Margaret Mead Elementary and a Play Everyday recess program at Grand Ridge Elementary in the Issaquah Highlands.

Some of the after-school programs the Y offers for middle school and high school students include Teen Leadership Board, Earth Service Corps, Teen Volunteer Corps, Youth and Government, and Outdoor Adventure Club.

Other teen programs that are offered range in areas of focus from sports and fitness to creative arts and coding.

Board member Jan Matthews identified youth development, healthy living and social responsibility as three key values for the young people served at the Sammamish Y. Matthews added that Tuesday’s breakfast served to help “spark an image” of how the Y could fit, as well as what it could do, in the community.

“We depend on you,” Matthews said to the room of educators. “We need you as administrators to help us try to establish our identity in the community.”