The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the impact of participating in a school garden-based project on the sense of social connectedness of urban elementary school students and university service-learning students within the urban community. The study found that the sixth-grade participants experienced improvements in their sense of peer connectedness, non-family member connectedness, and community connectedness during the school garden-based learning project. They formed meaningful connections with members in the gardening group and further developed an interest in community engagement for the common good of the community. For the university service-learning students, who were in their first year of university studies, their previous biases and stereotypes about this urban community were challenged and subsequently transformed as they closely interacted with the sixth-grade students in this project. They reported personal and professional growth that resulted from their service-learning experience in this project. Overall, both the sixth-grade participants and the university service-learning participants built meaningful connections with the school garden-based learning group and developed a sense of social connectedness within the urban community. The findings of this study provide significant information for leaders at public schools, particularly those in low-resourced school districts, faculty of service-learning courses and leaders of civic engagement programs in higher educational institutions, and leaders of community outreach at non-profit organizations. The findings can assist these leaders in fostering effective collaborations to enhance students' academic and social-emotional learning while also establishing meaningful relationships with their communities. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]