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In our highly mobile and global economy, STEM-related employment is key to stabilizing and rebuilding our middle class. Attrition in STEM fields, however, is disproportionately high at all educational levels for women, African Americans, Latinos, and people from low-income families. Compounding these challenges, many places in the United States struggle more than others to attract, develop, and retain STEM skills in their workforce. These cities often have poverty rates double the national average, lower educational attainment, and larger percentages of those underrepresented in STEM. So, while attraction, motivation, and retention in STEM disciplines are a national imperative, their importance within these regions is particularly acute. This poster and paper present the findings from the replication of a community-engaged educational ecosystem – as a STEM learning ‘commons’ – for delivering integrated high-impact pedagogical practices as a paid internship. The initial pilot that informs this replication effort targeted challenges with which many deindustrialized cities struggle – STEM knowledge and skills, talent retention, workforce readiness, and community engagement and vitality. The multi-year study uses a convergent mixed-methods design and collects qualitative and quantitative data throughout the summer immersion. Using data from the pilot site and the first year of the two replication sites, this poster and paper will focus on quantitative findings on a few key areas – including self-efficacy in STEM and place attachment as intermediate metrics toward the goal of rebuilding Midwestern cities.