Upstate New York School District Finds Innovative Approach to Building Trauma-Informed Schools
Schools everywhere are taking a variety of measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on students, teachers and parents. Superintendents and Principals have reached out to me to provide training and keynotes for staff to promote wellness and build resilience. Schools are asking me to present live and recorded webinars to their parents to provide support and strategies for helping their children through this challenging time. I am also supporting teachers by coaching them one-on-one and encouraging them to take care of themselves so they can be at their best each day.
But the Saratoga City School District has come up with an innovative way to support students and teachers, which is by being more trauma-informed. Due to the pandemic, many students have experienced trauma and some are experienced a prolonged state of toxic stress.
One of the social workers in the district reached out to me to discuss how we could work together. They wanted to provide teachers with the knowledge and support to help them move to the next level of understanding trauma and its impact on learning and behavior.
Last year, the faculty received training on mindfulness and support for incorporating mindfulness in classrooms. This was an excellent foundation from which to build. This year, they wanted to learn more about trauma and how it changes the brain, and in turn, how that affects learning and behavior. Together, we came up with the following plan:
A two-hour trauma training for all faculty and staff
Consultation with the RTI teams in order to support the implementation of the trauma-informed concepts and best practices
An audit of the discipline process and systems in each building, then reports that include findings and recommendations
During the audits, which will be conducted virtually, I will meet with the school administrators, social workers and psychologists, teaching assistants/aides who are involved in break/cool down rooms or who provide behavioral support, and a small group of teachers. As I designed this audit, I thought about all of the information/tools/data I would need in order to understand discipline in each building, and to make thorough recommendations for growth.
Some of the important tools we will be using are (Developed by NYSTEACHS):
Trauma Sensitive School Checklist (Faculty/Staff Survey)
I am impressed by how this school district took the time to reflect on where they are and where they would like to be, then found a creative solution to help them reach their goals. I am excited to do this work, as I know it will make a big difference in how challenging behavior is prevented and managed, and in how teachers are supported with effective and research-based strategies during this unprecedented year.
