With the shortest day of the year steadily approaching we find mid-winter just around the corner. The Scandinavians embrace the opportunity of shorter days and colder weather to hunker down, reflect, breathe deeply and connect with family as well as themselves. Maybe we should all find some inspiration from them! It has been another tough year but also a year (if one looks hard enough) full of unexpected warmth, support, new ideas and connection. We are all so grateful and in awe of your resilience.
Below in the newsletter you will find supports and resources available from both the School Culture and Climate Initiative as well as other helpful organizations all working to provide schools (and the humans within the schools!) with the supports they need as we move into 2022. With this newsletter we wish you all a restorative, fun and love filled winter break!
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Addressing School Climate: An Informational Session on How the School Culture and Climate Initiative Can Help
TODAY, December 13 from 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. ET
A positive school climate and SEL have always been keys to to establishing the right conditions for learning and ensuring students’ success in school, but are even more important now due to the impacts of the pandemic.
Learn more about best practices for climate and SEL work including data collection, team formation, and coordination. During the session, we will:
- Discuss why a structured approach to engaging staff and student voice is beneficial and how this forms the hub of the School Climate Assessment and Improvement Process.
- Examine the benefits of a data-driven approach to school climate improvement including why disaggregated baseline climate data is important.
- Learn why a coordinated approach to SEL, school climate improvement, and DEI is more efficient and has greater impact. Examples of how this coordinated approach is woven into SCAIP will be shared.
- Explain why a partnership with an outside third party is beneficial.
The School Climate Assessment and Improvement Process (SCAIP) was developed to guide schools on a transformational journey to create a positive school climate and promote the social-emotional competencies and well-being of students and staff.
Through SCAIP, schools embark on a three-year individualized process with the guidance and support of experts in the field of school climate and social-emotional learning. While some school communities choose to navigate the waters alone, our partner schools will attest to the fact that having a guide on this journey makes it less time consuming and easier to keep the momentum going. Relationship-building is a key component to the change process, and it reflects one of our core values – collaboration and respect.
Learn what over 125 schools have experienced by partnering in the School Climate Assessment and Improvement Process.
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The School Culture and Climate Initiative provides the following:
SEL
- SEL teacher coaching (all levels)
- Professional development in all areas of SEL
School Climate
- Three-year all-inclusive, consultant supported, School Climate Assessment and Improvement Process with baseline and follow-up climate surveys for all in the school community. This process includes the integration of SEL.*
Professional Development
- Trauma-informed approaches, cultural competencies, equity, team building, SEL, and many more areas - designed specifically for your school/district
- We are able to develop a series of workshops to support your school and address specific objectives.
Professional Learning Communities (PLCs)
- Staff well-being PLCs/Parent PLCs
- PLCs available that bring schools together around similar jobs (school counselor/administrator) as well as shared professional development (School Support Network)
Data
- School Climate Assessment (students, staff, parents) with data analysis and in-person detailed data review
- Other assessment tools available including Equity, Social Inclusion, and Bullying Prevention
- Student and staff surveys disaggregated by key sub-groups
An Integrated Approach* to School Climate Improvement, SEL, and Equity
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We know school climate, SEL, and equity are intertwined and to be most effective any school improvement approach needs to address all three areas in a coordinated manner. We are very pleased to be able to offer schools and districts a comprehensive, customized, three-year, data-driven approach that will build capacity within staff and ensure time and resources are used most effectively. True change is hard and takes time - this integrated approach supports your school throughout the process.
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School Support Network (SSN) meetings are free and everyone is welcome to attend. Share with your colleagues! |
“Holiday Celebration and Goal Setting"
December 15 - 1:00 - 2:30 p.m.
No formal meeting this month - please use this time to do something nice for yourself!
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"Best Practices for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion" (Virtual)
January 19 - 1:00 - 2:30 p.m.
This session will focus on using data to drive the work, the importance and necessity of integrating the work with SEL and school climate, how important it is to lay the foundation first, the importance of staff and student voice.
Presented by: Patrick Fennell, Founder/President, Empowerment Solutions, LLC
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"Reconnecting With Your Strengths: Revitalizing Connection"
February 9 - 8:30 - 11:30 a.m. Bergen County
In-person Meeting
Sage Alliance, 900 Darlington Avenue, Mahwah, NJ
Please join us for our first in-person SSN meeting in two years! We are thrilled to have Sage Day school in Mahwah host this timely SSN meeting which will focus on the importance of connection. Throughout the morning we will explore how and why a strength based approach is so effective and also so much more fun! In addition, we will also be participating in an art therapy experiential activity facilitated by Kelly Amaniera ATR-BC, LPC, NCC, and Amanda Wagner, Psy.D., LPC of New Alliance Academy. This collaborative art directive will help to redefine and reignite compassion for self and others in order to revitalize our educational communities. This activity will help demonstrate how Gary Chapman’s (1992) Five Love Languages can be applied in the workplace to enhance connections with co-workers and students.
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Coffee chats are virtual gatherings that allow schools to connect with one another. Participants have shared successes, challenges, and ideas with their colleagues during our past coffee chats. Coffee chats are held from 9:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. and are open for all to attend.
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These coffee chats where we bring together educators in similar roles. While collaborating with colleagues in diverse roles has its advantages, gathering with those in the same professional role allows you to explore more in-depth job-specific concerns, issues and potential strategies.
These coffee chats are held from 9:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.
School Counselor Network
Administrator Network
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"SEL Coaching: Learn Tips and Tools to Enhance the Social Emotional Learning at Your School"
Presented by: Erica Brentan, Consultant, School Culture and Climate Initiative
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Join us for this interactive workshop series - "Building Within: Cultivating Well-Being and Emotional Resilience in Educators"!
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Research shows that educators who cultivate their own SEL practices enjoy more positive relationships with their students and see improved academic performance in their classrooms.
Designed specifically to help educators develop their SEL skills, the Building Within workshop series will feature guided personal reflections and offer tools for implementing SEL practices on a daily basis. Led by social emotional learning coaches Erica Brentan and Kathleen McClay, educators will come away with a set of activities they can take back to their schools and easily share with colleagues in their school communities.
Workshop topics include:
- Understanding, accepting, and positively responding to emotions
- Cultivating the perseverance, patience and courage needed to manage change
- Strengthening compassion and gratitude for the self and others
- Building strong, healthy classroom communities
Each interactive Zoom session will be held monthly from 3:15 p.m. - 4:15 p.m. ET from January through May 2022. The registration fee is $149 per person.
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CASEL Building Connections Webinar
"Social and Emotional Learning and Teacher Well-being"
December 17 from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. ET
Coverage of teacher burnout has been on the rise since the start of the pandemic. While there are many strategies offered to support teacher self-care and stress management, schoolwide conditions are often overlooked. Teacher wellness requires ongoing commitments and long-term strategies that address systems-level change.
Join researchers Doris A. Santoro from Bowdoin College and Olga Acosta Price from George Washington University as they discuss the system and school conditions that contribute, including strategies to consider and avoid.
Recommended for decision makers in education to support them in prioritizing the well-being of their staff when they return from the holiday break.
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Character-Inspired Organization
Character.org is comprised of educators, researchers, business and civic leaders who care deeply about the vital role that character will play in the future. Their worldwide network empowers people of all ages to practice and model core values that shape hearts, minds, and choices. Every month, they nominate a person of character. This month, the recipient is Dr. William Trusheim, a long-time educator who is currently the president of the New Jersey Alliance for Social, Emotional, and Character Development. Read the interview with Dr. Trusheim.
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National Association of School Psychologists Article
"The Importance of Addressing Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Schools: Dispelling Myths About Critical Race Theory"
Schools have long explored the role of race and racism in our country’s history, including disparities in opportunity and education. It is important that we provide students with an honest and accurate assessment of history so that they can create a better future. The growing politicization of these issues has manifested in the demonization and purposeful misrepresentation of Critical Race Theory (CRT) and other well-established policies and practices in schools, such as social–emotional instruction and the implementation of culturally responsive practices. These discussions are happening at local school board meetings, in communities, in state legislatures, and in Congress. Students are paying attention, and the divisive rhetoric and intentional misrepresentation of CRT is causing confusion and disruption and could undermine a positive school climate. Read more
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"A Simple Tool to Help Teachers Regulate Their Emotions"
In a year that’s bringing a lot of stress, this tool is no cure-all, but it can help teachers keep their emotions in check. Read more
"How School Leaders Can Build Realistic Optimism This Year"
Amid the challenges of the past two years, a superintendent shares the four-step process he used to step back from his breaking point. Read more
"Designing a Better Staff Meeting"
With the right planning, these meetings can maximize collaboration and even be uplifting and a little fun. Read more
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"Youth Mental Health First Aid"
The Northeast and Caribbean Mental Health Technology Transfer Center (MHTTC) can provide Youth Mental Health First Aid to your school or organization at no cost. "Youth Mental Health First Aid" is designed to teach parents, family members, caregivers, teachers, school staff, peers, neighbors, health and human services workers, and other caring citizens how to help an adolescent (age 12-18) who is experiencing a mental health or addictions challenge or is in crisis. Topics covered include anxiety, depression, substance use, disorders in which psychosis may occur, disruptive behavior disorders (including AD/HD), and eating disorders."
If you are interested in receiving training, please email us.
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