Nothing in teacher training prepared me for how trauma would creep into my classroom. During my first year teaching, Martin spent most afternoons with me, cracking jokes as he helped grade homework. Then in April, this bubbly, boisterous boy found me in our library. He stared from the doorway, silent and solemn. After a lingering […]
For over a year, Stand for Children, MICAH, and 9-0-One have been working both separately and together to define occasions for improving educational opportunities for students in Shelby County. We have talked with Shelby County Schools (SCS) administrators, SCS Board Members, County Commissioners, the County Mayor, parents, students, and other community stakeholders and have outlined […]
When it comes to the relationship between school facilities and academic achievement, study after study seems to confirm what we already know: that the quality and condition of the physical space has an effect on students’ motivation and performance. Simply put, it is difficult to concentrate on learning while immersed in an environment that is too hot or too cold, has […]
Since 2015, the ACE Awareness Foundation has been working to educate the Greater Memphis community about Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), as well as supporting policies and practices that can prevent and mitigate the effects of toxic stress. This work is incredibly important because ACEs are unbelievably common. Over half of the Memphis population has experienced at […]
Trauma-informed schools provide benefit to students and families as they embrace restorative practices and social-emotional learning. These schools are trained to understand how traumatic stress affects neurological development and learning, and view misbehaviors as skill deficits. As a result, their responses are rooted in compassionate capacity building, rather than exclusionary discipline intended to maintain compliance. Lastly, these schools strive to have the resources needed to meet students’ social-emotional needs, including sufficient access to high-quality mental health providers. In short, these schools are models of institutions where you would want to send your child, regardless of their relationship with adverse childhood experiences.
Sadly, few schools in Memphis are certifiably trauma-informed. Yet, there is a growing local movement to change that. Shelby County Schools, as well as various charters, are working to educate school staff about the effect of ACEs and toxic stress. Some schools are already moving to the next step, using their new understandings to transform how they support students, particularly when it comes to discipline and building social-emotional skills.
An audience member speaks at “The Great Debate: Exploring the Role of Charter Schools in Memphis” on Tuesday, November 13, 2018.
