Nicole Larsen, CEI Intern, and Christine Mason, Executive Director Teachers and other school staff are under tremendous pressure right now. Like their students and families, educators are also facing new challenges as each week reveals another new COVID-related variable (Glasgow, 2021; Leeb, 2020). Masks, vaccines, physical distancing, quarantines, remote learning, pressure to catch up and to that there is the variable of simply getting used to being in school six hours a da

Principal at Bridgewater-Hebron Village School, Supports the Whole Child Through Compassionate Leadership By Hailey Jordan, Research Assistant, New England Mental Health Technology Transfer Center Supporting the whole child to improve physical, social, and emotional well-being is not new to Stacy Bachelder-Giles. As an elementary school principal in the C-TLC Fellowship program, Stacy has brought more attention to the importance of being trauma-informed to her district. She h

By Dana Asby, CEI Director of Innovation & Research Support, New England MHTTC Education Coordinator Compassionate leadership in education comes from many levels: the teacher who pauses the day’s lesson to check in on a student who has fallen asleep, the principal who connects an unhoused family to needed resources, the superintendent who ensures there is funding set aside for school mental health providers, the state education administrator who finds opportunities to bring m

By Dana Asby, CEI Director of Innovation & Research Support, New England MHTTC Education Coordinator Teachers and administrators come to schools with various educational backgrounds and life experiences that influence their abilities to support students’ academic and emotional well-being effectively. Peer learning can be a powerful way for school staff to grow from hearing each other’s successes and challenges. Offering these opportunities regularly, and pairing them with int

By Martha Staeheli, Director, Childhood Trauma Learning Collaborative and Instructor in the Yale School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry Leaders often have to balance multiple and competing needs in their “teams” and organizations, including increased workloads, vicarious trauma among staff, student and family needs, and scarce resources. Characteristics that make leaders good at their jobs—compassion, perfectionism, toughness, practicality, and integrity—can also make th