Blog

By Rae Jacobson, The Child Mind Institute, June 23, 2020 It’s a trying time to be the parent of a teenager. After months of being cooped up at home away from friends, unable to attend school or go out, most kids are chomping at the bit to get back to the lives they had before the pandemic. Getting teens to take safety seriously is a struggle at the best of times, and as the nation moves towards reopening, it’s never been more important to ensure kids are following the rules. How can parents...

"Woke" language is not a substitute for the deep work anti-racism requires By Jamilah Pitts June 16, 2020 Educators have to move beyond the buzzwords and trends circulating today if we are seeking to truly transform schools. The terms “diversity,” “equity,” and “inclusion” simply are not enough. And I fear now that the radicalism tied to anti-racist work is being watered down. Educational trendy buzzwords pave a destructive road for the commodification of otherwise transformative action.

By Antero Garcia and Nicole Mirra, EdSource, June 17, 2020 As school districts and county offices of education make plans for safely reopening schools in the fall and helping students cope with their trauma, it is urgent that they also recognize and make space for teachers to process and heal from their own feelings of loss and grief. Nearly every teacher we have ever worked with puts their emotional needs aside in order to address the emotional needs of their students when tragedy...

By Vanessa Sacks and Rebecca M. Jones, Child Trends, June 17, 2020 With the abrupt closure of schools around the country as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, many community-based organizations that provide critical supports to students in the school building have had to stop offering services. Others have quickly transitioned to a new way of serving students and have learned some early and important lessons along the way. Child Trends has been working with youthCONNECT at Suitland High...

By Karen Gross, The Hechinger Report, June 22, 2020 Our students are traumatized. They are living with fear and confusion. They are experiencing or witnessing police violence, rioting and looting. And schools, a place where children typically process events and emotions, are shuttered. What are children to do? Who will acknowledge, understand and respond to their trauma and its accompanying symptomology? Who’s there to enable our students to understand racism and violence, and to mitigate...

By Rebecca London & William Massey, June 22, 2020, The Conversation. Once children return to school for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic upended everything, they will most likely spend less time on school grounds . And as educational leaders decide how to schedule elementary school students’ days, they see catching students up on math, English and other academic subjects as a top priority. In our view, helping students heal from the stress and trauma of what they have been...

Dana Brown, California's ACEs Science Statewide Facilitator, and Tracie Travers , Jobs for Maine's Graduates, JAG Main State Trainer, discuss the importance of acknowledging fear, loss, and vulnerability during the COVID-19 pandemic. It includes: Tips to build resilience Self-care strategies Multiple resources with hyperlinks are provided in this video designed to support school partners and their employees as they support students and communities. Video Link: Collective Trauma Healing...

Thursday, June 25, 2020 Education Upended, NEW TIME- 11AM PST, Special Guest Roberto Rivera Please join us for the ongoing community discussion of "A Better Normal — Education Upended". This week special guest Roberto Rivera will join us to discuss raising up youth voice in education as we re-imagine the future of school. Roberto Rivera is a member of the Social and Emotional Learning Group at the University of Illinois at Chicago. As a doctoral student at UIC, he currently research...

By Antero Garcia and Nicole Mirra, EdSource, June 17, 2020 As school districts and county offices of education make plans for safely reopening schools in the fall and helping students cope with their trauma, it is urgent that they also recognize and make space for teachers to process and heal from their own feelings of loss and grief. Nearly every teacher we have ever worked with puts their emotional needs aside in order to address the emotional needs of their students when tragedy...

Thursday, June 18, 2020 Education Upended, Special Guest Ingrid Cockhren Please join us for the ongoing community discussion of "A Better Normal — Education Upended". This week special guest and ACEsConnection staff member Ingrid Cockhren will join us to discuss facilitating conversations about racism, equity, and racial trauma through a trauma-informed lens with staff and students. Weekly themes include: How do we create physical and psychological safety, especially in the face of so much...

Educators and parents don’t all support the move. The school board’s decision was unanimous. Jun. 11, 2020, 9:32 p.m. Denver’s public school system will part ways with in-school police officers who have monitored students and campuses for 22 years. After four hours of heated comment from the public Thursday evening, the Denver Public Schools Board of Education voted unanimously to order Denver Police Department officers out of school hallways and classrooms. The resolution , sponsored by...

By Kalyn Belsha, Chalkbeat, June 9, 2020 Last week, as widespread protests continued over the police killing of George Floyd, the Minneapolis school board voted unanimously to end its contract with the local police department. Since then, school officials elsewhere have moved in a similar direction. A majority of Denver school board members say they’ll support a measure to remove police from the district’s schools by the end of the year. And the superintendent of Portland’s public schools...