Blog

By Emily Henderson, Photo: Unsplash, Medical News, January 19, 2021 Researchers know that experiencing a high number of adverse events in childhood correlates with worse health outcomes in adulthood. These studies have led to an emphasis on trauma-informed practice in schools and workplaces in an attempt to mitigate the harm of early adversity. At the other end of the spectrum, focusing on wellness, Darcia Narvaez, emerita professor of psychology at the University of Notre Dame, has helped...

By David Tow, EdSource, January 17, 2021 D uring a recent class, my freshmen and I were discussing the best ways to engage with the complex world of high school. We talked about how to juggle multiple deadlines, contact their busy and unavailable teachers and balance appealing extracurricular activities with coursework and the omnipresent complication of Covid-19. This discussion was part of an ongoing conversation about effective study skills and traits. Most of my 13- and 14-year-old...

Please join us for our new series Education Upended: Talking Out of Turn . This monthly series will feature a conversation facilitated by Lara Kain, PACEsConnection Education Consultant, with special guests on education related current events and hot topics. We will use a trauma-informed and PACEs science aware lens to examine what is going on K-12 education, what needs changing, and strategies being used in the field to disrupt harmful policies and make positive changes in the system.

By Valerie Strauss, Photo: iStock, The Washington Post, January 6, 2022 The recent announcement by former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg that he was donating $750 million to help expand charter schools in 20 U.S. metropolitan areas sparked another round of discussion in parts of the education world about the best way to improve public schools. In a Wall Street Journal op-ed , Bloomberg declared that “American public education is broken” and that charter schools — which are publicly funded but...

Are you ready to transform your school to become a trauma-informed and healing-centered environment? Join us for the PACEsConnection virtual Trauma-Informed School Leadership Institute. This institute is specifically tailored for school leaders and leadership teams who want to understand the HOW of trauma-informed schools. Speakers will include current and former building leaders engaged in the work as well as other national experts supporting schools through this transformation process.

Attachment & Trauma Network (ATN) is excited to announce the addition of a screening of the Mott Haven Documentary at the 5th annual Creating Trauma-Sensitive Schools Conference on Thursday, Feb 24, 2022. The screening will include a conversation with JC Hall, LMSW, EXAT a Hip Hop artist and clinical social worker who runs the Hip Hop Therapy Studio program at Mott Haven Community High School, a “second-chance” transfer school in the South Bronx. In 2013, Hall assembled a professional...

By Jonathan Klein and Lisa Patel, Photo: Julie Leopo/EdSource, EdSource, January 4, 2022 After several years of ongoing disruption from the Covid pandemic, wildfires and heat waves, California’s 6 million students and their parents know firsthand that far too many school buildings are not equipped to address our present challenges. This is especially true for Black and brown children who face disproportionate climate change impacts and are more likely to attend school buildings in poor...

Happy, Healthy New Year’s Wishes for You! Most of us have heard this phrase multiple times over that past week. Where exactly do happy and healthy start?? I believe the felt sense of safety is the common denominator. We are all looking for relief from the stress of the past few years, but some of us also continue to help ourselves or others cope with and learn from the adversities and toxic stress from our past. Research tells us that connection to competent and caring people and...

The American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) Foundation has awarded the Trauma-informed Design Society a $30,000 grant to conduct a pilot project culminating in the creation of a tool schools can use to evaluate their physical space and identify changes that can lower the stress levels of students and staff! PROJECT OVERVIEW The space in which students learn can communicate safety and promote secure attachments with teachers, or it can symbolize lack of dignity and agency, encouraging...

There is national consensus on the youth mental health crisis. In October the American Academy of Pediatrics, AACP and CHA d eclared a national youth mental crisis followed by the US Surgeon General issuing a n advisory to respond to this public health emergency. Partnering with schools is key to any scalable solution to address the youth mental health crisis. Authors of th e recently rel eased guide, School Mental Health 101: A Primer for Medi-Cal Managed Care Plans and school mental health...

This truly is a special time for many of us, but let's also acknowledge that this is a very busy, stressful, and sometimes overwhelming time. This blog post imagines a new kind of holiday tradition, grounded in all the kinds of things that help us in stressful times. We also share newly available resources and exciting news about what's to come in the new year, including a grant-funded project to help lower stress levels in schools!

By Anne Vasquez, Photo: Allison Shelley/All4Ed, EdSource, December 13, 2021 After 18 months of distance learning, I took a breath before the start of this school year. What would the new normal look like? I feel like I’m still holding my breath, waiting for the proverbial shoe to drop that comes in the form of an end-of-semester report card. As the mother of a newly minted middle school student and a high school junior, I knew this year would test my personal code of ethics about grades:...