More than 500 people gathered at Illinois State University for a dropout prevention program, and you'd be surprised with who's here from the Stateline. There's faces here you'll recognize and others you won't.  But they're all here for the same reason.

“A John Hopkins study was mentioned earlier  and indicated that three of our four high schools are considered drop out factories. We have a huge dropout problem in Rockford,” says Rockford Mayor Larry Morrissey.

            The numbers aren't clear, but 403 kids have dropped out in 2009.

“We don’t track drop out rates, we track graduation rates and the formula is bizarre,” says Rockford Superintendent of Schools Dr. Lavonne Sheffield

            What we do know is last year, nearly 2,000 kids skipped more than 18 days of class.

“I think its unbelievable I cannot believe how many kids are dropping out of school,” says Belvidere North High School student Colleen McGill.

            To help with the problem, organizers split regions into separate groups. Together they established common language, shared values and visions to determine measures of success.

“It reinforced for me that the community really does want to move forward,” says Sheffield.

            One of the activates asked leaders to share significant events and experiences that shaped what they believe.

“I think a lot of those different perspectives are important to take into consideration as we develop holistic solutions for our community,” says Morrissey.

            Their differences aside, they all vowed to unite for the cause.

“I think it will take all the adults, all the legislators, the school boards and the students,” says McGill.

The challenge coming out of here is okay, we've had a great conversation, we all see the issues the same.  Where do we go from here?” says Sheffield.

Leaders say they're already working to put their words into action.

            District 205 and the city want to form a strategic team to tackle the issue.

            That group would hold leaders and students more accountable.