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Resources and Recommendations

“Social emotional wellbeing must be schools’ and districts’ top priority in supporting school transitions, not at the expense of academics, but in order to create the mental, social, and emotional space for academic learning to occur.” 

New York State Education Department’s (NYSED) guidance document, Recovering, Rebuilding, Renewing: The Spirit of New York’s Schools, for re-opening or partially re-opening schools this fall prioritizes support for students’ social emotional development. 

The team at Whole Child Connection has reviewed this guidance related to social emotional well-being carefully with an eye toward helping districts unpack the requirements and determine how to meet them.  Under each guideline below you will find a list of ways in which your district may already be on its way to meeting the requirement as well as resources to support next steps. 

Whole Child Connection staff are committed to supporting you during this difficult period of transition. For questions or conversation about these requirements, contact us at connection@childrensinstitute.net 

Recommendation 1: Communicate social emotional well-being and learning as a priority and engage members of the school community in implementation efforts. 

• Establish a shared repository of resources which is accessible to all staff – explore Whole Child Connection's resources as well as the NYSED guidance page of resources 

• Tip Sheets for Returning to Learning

• Family Engagement Checklist

• Mindfully develop your communication strategy using the steps in this guide. (requires you to develop a free account to CASEL’s District Resource Center) 

Recommendation 2: Identify or build a team to lead your implementation. Decide how students, staff, and family will contribute. 

• Many districts (especially those who have engaged in the Whole Child Connection’s district-wide or school-wide needs assessment and consultation process) already have whole child health, wellness, or SEL teams in place. Use or reinstate existing teams rather than creating a new one to take advantage of consistency and existing working relationships.  Invite new members to join to ensure representation of your students, staff, and families.   

• Use CASEL’s guide to building a transition coalition. 

Recommendation 3: Consider a prolonged orientation or transition period to support the social and emotional well-being and resiliency before phasing in academic content 

• Lean into the power of relationships using our Tip Sheets for Connection when Returning to Learning 

• View our recent Helping Young People Cope with Stress During Uncertain Times Spotlight Series webinar  

• View this webinar from Dr. Marc Brackett on “Strategies for Being Your Best SELf” 

Recommendation 4: The district’s school counseling/guidance program should be reviewed and revised to plan, develop, and implement a MultiTiered System of Supports (MTSS). As part of an MTSS framework, SEL, mental health, and well-being supports offered at all levels should reflect schoolwide implementation of effective, efficient, and evidence-based practices and strategies that all students can access. 

• Map out on-going supports for staff professional development

• Lean into your BOCES network for additional support and professional development opportunities

• Review CASEL’s MTSS school model here (requires you to develop a free account to CASEL’s District Resource Center)  

• Check in with any curricula or programs you already use. Many have published updates or addendums to their existing content, such as this “Preparing for Remote Learning” meeting agenda  from Collaborative Classroom, part of their Reconnecting and Rebuilding Toolkit.

• If you have participated in the Whole Child Connection’s SEL needs assessment process, review your technical report for a breakdown of your school’s activities by Tier.  

Recommendation 5: Offer all staff opportunities to heal together, to build strong, mutually supportive relationships, and to process their own emotions, including bus drivers, cafeteria workers, office workers, nurses, pupil personnel services staff, and administrators. 

• Host one or more Community Check-Ins, an offering from Whole Child Connection that provides staff with an opportunity to come together around critical themes for discussion, sharing, and community.

• Attend or host a self-care training

• View the first installment of our web series on Coming Back from COVID focused specifically on what adults can do to prepare themselves for coming back to school buildings.  

• Check out the resources at Creating Resilience for Educators, an organization with a goal to nurture healthy, caring school communities that support social and emotional learning and teacher and principal wellness. 

Recommendation 6: Leverage Transformative SEL to support the work of adult anti-racism and anti-bias work 

• View "How Do I Make Sure I'm Not Raising the Next Amy Cooper" and our accompanying webinar discussion guide

• View "I [STILL] Can't Breathe: Supporting Kids Amid Racialized Violence" and our accompanying webinar discussion guide

• Continue the conversation around How to Ensure SEL is Anti-Racist

• Download this Guide for Racial Justice & Abolitionist Social and Emotional Learning  from the Abolitionist Teaching Network