Objective:Support students who have experienced trauma to feel safe and supported by creating a trauma-sensitive school environment.

Teacher Takeaways: Research shows that traumatic experiences in childhood, including abuse, neglect and violence, can affect focus, memory, language-abilities, and self-regulation skills that students need to be successful academically, behaviorally and socially. Schools with a high percentage of students who have experienced trauma will see positive outcomes by training teachers about the impacts of trauma, and teaching them how to create trauma-sensitive classrooms. A responsive trauma-informed environment focuses on building trusting relationships BEFORE academic learning and building critical SEL skills like self-awareness, self-regulation, and empathy. Many schools use the non-profit ACE framework to identify students who have faced trauma and create environments to support them.

Resource: A step-by-step framework for building a trauma-sensitive school environment (Trauma and Learning Policy Initiative)

Resource: Awareness, resources and action (ACE Response)