At one of the largest school districts in the state, Superintendent Mark Toback oversees some 7,700 students across his 15 schools. Like many education leaders, he explains this anti-bullying prevention and education initiative is a direct response to the behavioral changes students experienced post-COVID.

“We have a number of things we’re seeing that were outside what we normally see in terms of statistics about the district’s disciplinary actions, extreme behaviors, counseling needs, referrals, all of those things, which I think is part of a national trend,” he says.

As a result, the district had been tasked with addressing an increased number of HIB (harassment, intimidation and bullying) cases. However, it wasn’t until they began educating their students, staff and community-at-large about what’s considered HIB rather than a conflict that can be resolved through mutual conversation and resolution that they started to see a significant dip in reported cases. In fact, the district’s witnessed a 41% shrink in HIB investigations so far this year, says Scot Burkholder, director of student support services, federal, state and special programs.

He attributes a large number of their past-reported conflicts to disputes that originate via social media.

“There were a lot of cyber-driven conflicts, a lot of anxiety, self-esteem issues and emotional regulation issues,” he explains. “All of these issues interact with one another and are COVID holdovers.”

Getting to the root of the issue

Social media regulation can be a difficult task for school administrators. Even if you were to ban cell phone use at school—which many schools have done this year—a lot of these issues are likely to surface after school hours. Burkholder says creating awareness was their first step toward bullying prevention.

“We basically said, ‘We’re going to ensure our staff, our teachers, our support staff, our principals and our parents as partners in our district understand how to help students navigate conflict, engage properly with their peers and work out issues without making claims against one another,'” he says.

For instance, Jennifer Montana, supervisor of health and wellness, recently helped bring together school counselors from various schools in the district to present on bullying prevention, social media awareness and self-regulation ahead of one of their board meetings.

“We really do want to work with parents and our school community to be able to support students in learning these valuable skills,” she says.

Burkholder also says their success wouldn’t be possible without the work of their building administrators.

“Our exceptional principals and assistant principals, along with our professional school counselors, deserve the accolades for our anti-bullying efforts,” he says. “This highly skilled group of leaders spend countless hours each week meeting with students, parents and teachers to ensure all reports of possible billing and conflict become teachable moments for our students.”

Working with students to navigate their emotions

Burkholder explains that their counselors work closely with students on how to talk through their problems with their peers. It starts with teaching students how to talk through their emotions using “I” statements. For instance, “I feel this way because,” rather than, “You did this to me.”

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Toback says much of their federal COVID funding has been spent on hiring more counselors and mental health clinicians as well.

“It was interesting that the 120 or so spots that we had available with this contract were filled up almost immediately,” he says. It’s allowed students whose families lack the insurance to be able to receive the care they need during school hours, which he says has been instrumental.

“We feel like those were situations where students would definitely not have received those mental health services except for the fact that there was a significant investment and contract that allowed for those services,” says Toback.

Future planning

This summer, administrators and counselors will gather to review trends in parent and student reporting to set proactive goals for the next school year based on specific student concerns, notes Burkholder. This includes identifying targeted student populations, cyber conflicts, observing referral sources and looking at what resources or programs were provided to students after HIB reports and their effectiveness.

The information also allows them to customize their annual training on bullying prevention and de-escalation.

“We train not only teachers and administrators but also paraprofessionals, bus drivers, substitutes and other support staff every year to ensure students are safe and protected in spaces where teachers and certified staff are not always present,” he says.

“It takes a village. We have an exceptional staff who care deeply about student wellness.”

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This was the case for Denise Watts, superintendent of Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools in Georgia, who told us it was illogical to rely on her own vision for success as she interviewed for the top spot ahead of the current school year. Neil Gupta, superintendent of Ohio’s Oakwood City School District, shares a similar experience.

“Last January during the interview process, people were asking me, ‘What’s your vision for the district?'” To which Gupta boldly replied, “You should be very scared if anybody gives you the answer.”

He had been studying the district for some time in preparation for these interviews, yet he felt it best to hold off on answering that question until he spent quality time face-to-face with the community.

“I hadn’t even moved here yet,” he explained. “I hadn’t gotten to know this district yet or understand the culture. Obviously, I’ve been in other districts at the local and national levels. I know what’s out there. But if I try to copy and paste the things that had been successful elsewhere, it could be disastrous.”

Fast-forward to today. The district appreciated his response and allowed him to carry out his mission to get a read on the district’s heartbeat, so to speak. However, given Gupta’s understanding of the importance of community voice and input, he decided it’d be best to include district stakeholders—including students and parents—in the creation of Oakwood Schools’ next vision for success.

It all started in a December on the district’s website—where Gupta writes almost weekly—sharing the district’s latest updates and other news he deems important. In the article, he outlines the runway that they’ll use to “embark on a new journey together,” which includes some upcoming actions that “will allow us to provide clear and transparent communication,” the blog post reads.

These events include the release of their , a report that goes beyond a traditional state report card by providing community members with a clear look at the district’s strengths and growth areas. Last month also marked the beginning of Gupta’s monthly , which allow attendees direct access to their district leader to ask questions and share their ideas.

This month, it’s launched a aimed at gathering valuable insights on a variety of school-related topics. And just the other week, Gupta delivered a “State of the Schools” address during a board meeting celebrating some of the district’s recent achievements and discussed ways to keep the ball rolling.

2023-24 “State of the Schools”

Transparency and communication: They’re two principles that play a key role in Gupta’s process of creating a shared vision of success for his district.

“I kept hearing all along, ‘There’s a lack of communication and transparency,'” he says. “Well, how do you fix that?”

Gupta says the infographics, like the runway for the district’s strategic plan and his frequent blog posts, have become vital resources for the community as they seek to understand what’s in store for their students.

“It’s this idea of putting your kitchen sink on a visual,” he says. “Now, I take these visuals with me everywhere I go. When people ask, ‘What are you guys working on?’ I pull that sheet of paper out and I walk them through the steps.”

“This infographic has latched onto our community and other superintendents who have said, ‘We’re stealing that. That’s perfect.'”

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One glaring problem was a disproportionate suspension rate for students in certain ethnic groups. “It was heart-wrenching to hear that in a district that I love and consider my home—I’ve been here for 25 years—that in many ways [students] felt invisible,” Dent laments.

Compounding the challenge was that the district began its equity work at a time of heightened political divisiveness and resistance from some corners of the community to promoting inclusivity in all school operations. “We were making sure every student felt valued… by celebrating culture, by having different languages present, so students can walk down hallways and see themselves,” says Dent, for 2024.

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The results of these efforts were a drop in those problematic suspensions and a significant increase in graduation rates for Hispanic students.

Along the way, a new administrator was hired to ensure equal access for all learners and students formed the district’s first Black student union. The district’s school board, which was also recognized as tops in the state this year, has passed the first policy to explicitly prohibit racist behavior.

“It’s been exciting to see these students feel more empowered in their buildings, feel like they have a voice,” notes Dent, who has been Sumner-Bonney Lake’s leader since 2016. “It makes my heart so happy that students are coming together to share their experiences, and they feel safe doing it.

“We finally made it safe to talk about race in this district,” she adds.

Feeling safe, seeking help

Still, student mental health is one thing that keeps Dent up at night. She hopes Sumner-Bonney Lake is easing the challenge with its DEI work and by hiring more diverse staff members. Dent has placed five counselors at each high school and provided them with intensive training in trauma-informed practices.

She has also expanded teletherapy, hosted a mental health night specifically for student-athletes and their families, and hired a coordinator to oversee Sumner-Boney Lake’s whole-child initiatives. “When kids feel safe at school, they’re going to be more willing to reach out for help,” she attests.

Sumner-Bonney Lake’s students have been academically resilient, as evidenced by rising test scores. But from the pandemic to the constant thrum of social media to various external pressures, there appear to be many causes for the increased levels of anxiety and depression students are experiencing, Dent suspects.

“It’s kids feeling connected and forging that sense of connection again, even with relationships—like ‘It’s OK to look at somebody and talk to them, you don’t have to just text them,'” she concludes. “I don’t know what toll technology is taking on them.”

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“We had this hypothesis that we needed to do something different with our sixth graders,” says Smith, whose building is part of Orchard View Schools in Muskegon. “We wanted to tackle … how we can connect with our sixth graders in a way that better engages them in school and community. How do we engage them so that they’re having an authentic experience and they’re enjoying their learning?”

Orchard View Middle partnered with the , a child development nonprofit, to conduct focus groups in which students were asked what would make them feel a stronger sense of belonging at school and how they could get the most out of their learning. The program that emerged paired a cohort of sixth graders with a team of four teachers who now provide interdisciplinary projected-based learning.

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To be able to kick the program off at the beginning of this school year, Smith sought teachers who were excited about the experiment and, with more help from the Human Restoration Project, provided professional development and time to plan the curriculum over the summer of 2023.

Smith and his team have secured a five-year, $4-million federal EIR grant, which will also University of Virginia researchers to track how the school assesses progress based on student  portfolios, which the school is calling “learning journeys.” The grant will fund field trips and provide each cohort with $12,500 for supplies.

“The biggest challenge for PBL is the cost,” Smith adds. “We want these to be authentic experiences. We want the kids rolling their sleeves up and working together and bring ‘courageous collaborators.'”

Cooking with core subjects

Each project students work on will combine the four core subjects: English language arts, math, science and social studies. The first project, which students completed this fall, focused on healthy living and eating and included field trips to urban farms and a culinary arts program at nearby Baker College. The students created healthy eating infomercials and posters to spread the word about their learning and spent plenty of time in the kitchen.

“While they’re cooking, they’re doing the math and their science and their ELA,” Smith notes. “They’re doing all of the subjects while they’re exploring and they have their learning journey at the very end.”

An upcoming group project will task students with designing a school kitchen with a $125,000 grant from Orchard View’s food service provider. Among the already visible outcomes of the school-within-a-school is an improving learning environment in a county that grapples with chronic absenteeism due to a large transient population, Smith attests.

Sixth-grader teachers have also made fewer office referrals for disruptive behavior this school year. “We’re seeing higher engagement and less discipline,” he says. “We’re going to focus on building that community and creating experiences so kids want to come to school and value coming to school,” Smith explains. “I don’t want them to feel like they’re just coming in and going through the motions.”

The PBL school-within-a-school has the full support of Orchard View Superintendent Jim Nielsen. “We’re recognizing students don’t necessarily learn all the same way and they certainly are not learning the way they did 20 or 30 years ago,” Nielsen concludes. “When you look around education, one of the biggest issues we have is we’re still doing things the way we did 20 or 30 years ago.”

District 91¿´Æ¬istration’s Superintendent’s Playbook series examines how superintendents, principals and other administrators are solving common problems that today’s educators are facing.

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To help K12 leaders envision new learning environments, District 91¿´Æ¬istration chatted with Melissa Turnbaugh, a partner and national education and innovation leader at the architectural firm PBK, which specializes in school design.

1. What aspects of school design should be prioritized to make students comfortable?

Turnbaugh: “Creating a conducive and comfortable atmosphere for students at school requires a dual focus on physical and emotional well-being. Physical safety measures, such as established security protocols, limited access, security film, cameras and unobstructed visibility, are essential to provide a secure environment. Equally important is fostering emotional safety, achieved through learning spaces that cater to diverse needs—offering various sizes and scales to accommodate different learning styles.

“These environments should be warm and inviting, characterized by abundant natural light, clean air, and adaptable furniture, promoting a sense of ease and security. Additionally, ensuring access to outdoor spaces is crucial, as studies show that spending time outside contributes positively to students’ physical and emotional well-being, enhancing attention spans and test scores and addressing behavioral issues.

“Given the substantial time students invest in the school environment, it is imperative that the surroundings actively contribute to their overall support and comfort, addressing both their physical and emotional needs.”

2. How do lighting, furniture and other design components help increase attendance?

“Boosting attendance is directly linked to creating an appealing and immersive school environment. Even simple adjustments, such as introducing natural light into classrooms, have demonstrated a positive impact on both student and teacher attendance as well as academic performance. in The New York Times highlighted a concerning nationwide increase in school absenteeism, emphasizing that ‘research consistently indicates that student attendance is a powerful predictor of virtually every other outcome.’

“The solution to this issue is multifaceted. According to the EPA, maintaining indoor air quality is another crucial factor that can contribute to increased daily attendance and decreased dropout rates. Furthermore, fostering a positive perception of school and promoting engagement can be pivotal. A study involving first graders who had the opportunity to manipulate and control their furniture revealed higher levels of engagement and attendance.”

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When these solutions are integrated, addressing factors such as lighting, air quality, and student engagement, they collectively serve to improve both student and teacher attendance rates, ultimately contributing to enhanced retention within the educational system.

3. Describe some innovative designs schools have adopted for classrooms and other spaces, and how they are conducive to learning.

“Educational institutions are adopting innovative approaches to space utilization, promoting flexibility and extension for both students and teachers. One strategic design involves integrating collaboration spaces directly adjacent to classrooms, allowing educators to securely send students outside the traditional setting for activities like small group instruction, personalized learning, coaching or simply a peaceful break.

“Moreover, various areas across the campus are repurposed for learning purposes, utilizing outdoor spaces for classroom activities and providing designated areas for students requiring moments of de-escalation and reset.

“This comprehensive use of every inch of the school campus for learning and instruction not only facilitates a diverse range of choices and spaces but also aligns with the principle of responsible resource stewardship. Such intentional design encourages adaptability, promotes a variety of learning environments and maximizes the educational potential of the entire school infrastructure.”

4. What new types of furniture are schools installing to increase student comfort and achievement?

“Recognizing the significance of accommodating diverse learning needs, schools are increasingly valuing the use of flexible and adaptable furniture. Both students and teachers appreciate the versatility provided by furniture that can be easily rearranged to suit specific programs or projects.

“Furthermore, in catering to students with distinct learning requirements, adaptable furniture allows for rocking or wiggling, contributing to the maintenance of attention spans and focus. The furniture in educational settings must align with the specific type of learning taking place, thereby enhancing the overall effectiveness of the learning environment.”

5. How does design improve teacher retention, confidence and well-being?

“A concerning trend is the high rate at which teachers are leaving the profession. As previously noted, teachers must experience a sense of support within the school environment. This encompasses not only physical safety, ensured through the implementation of safety measures and improved air quality post-pandemic, but also support in the realm of teaching. This involves providing tools such as voice amplification and creating teaching environments that align with their individual styles, including the incorporation of flexible furniture.

“Additionally, teachers require intentional spaces where they can collaborate with peers, fostering their well-being, promoting connections and facilitating ongoing professional development. Recognizing and addressing these multifaceted needs is essential to retaining educators within the teaching profession.”

District 91¿´Æ¬istration’s Superintendent’s Playbook series examines how superintendents, principals and other administrators are solving common problems that today’s educators are facing.

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“I’m excited about the future for kids,” says Galván, who was recently named Superintendent of the Year on by the Association of Latino 91¿´Æ¬istrators and Superintendents. “The students, our board of trustees, the teachers—everyone is so invested in Greenfield.”

Proof of that investment lies in the opportunities for post-secondary success created by the partnerships Galván has formed with organizations such as Digital Promise’s and companies such as Apple and Lego.

Partnership No. 1 focuses on virtual reality

The League of Innovative Schools is a national coalition of about 150 districts that collaborate to identify instructional practices that will have big impacts on student achievement.

It has allowed Galván to travel to different districts to examine cutting-edge instruction and Greenfield’s work with the organization has paved the way for widespread use of virtual reality in the district, which has allowed students to tour the world and has further led to the launch of esports labs. Virtual reality and esports have also become key vehicles for project-based learning and problem-solving skills, Galván notes.

Partnership No. 2 revs up robotics

The Apple and Lego partnerships enable Greenfield to offer robotics in all five of its schools and to send students to the toy company’s national competitions. Galván and her team have plotted how robotics will take students from the early grades all the way to graduation and beyond. “We backward map the skills from preschool all the way through to the secondary setting,” she points out.

Because Greenfield is just over an hour’s drive from Silicon Valley, students take regular field trips to get exposure to various careers in the tech industry. Students who recently got a behind-the-scenes look at the Apple campus also got a chance to chat with CEO Steve Cook about computer science, robots and careers. Galván also got to address Apple leaders and investors.

“That was a game-changer for the children of Greenfield, who got out of our small farm-working community to meet with a billionaire,” she says. “My message to everyone there was, that everybody has a story, when you discover your story then you discover your purpose in life. I asked everyone to ask my kids about their story and to tell them your story.”

Partnership No. 3 focuses on virtual reality

The district has a new partnership with AASA, the School Superintendents Association, which has selected Greenfield as a model for K12 innovation. The organization is sending a group of superintendents and other leaders to tour the district in the spring.

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And what does Galván intend to show off when the leaders visit? “We’re going to share culture—how leadership impacts culture,” she says. “When the superintendent sets the tone, the directors, the C-suite, the board, the principals, the teachers, our classified labor partners all share that. We have really great culture here in Greenfield that we’ve cultivated over the last seven years.”

Some of the hallmarks of that culture include not having had a single grievance about a contract violation in six years—since her first year leading the district. “I’m going to have the (ASAA) team interview teachers, like any teacher, grab any teacher and just talk to them about our culture here,” she exclaims. “I am unafraid for them to talk to anyone because they’ve been the work we’ve done together.”

Galván and her team also work closely with local government, including the fire and police departments, as well as neighboring school districts and a range of nonprofit organizations, colleges and social service providers. “When you watch me or the district on social media, you’ll see the bright faces of students and team members,” she concludes.

“That is something we cultivate—it’s the day-to-day interactions … that really make a district what it is. When you invest in people, then people are more willing to go the extra mile and do the work for kids.”

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That morning, Bedell, who is now superintendent of Anne Arundel County Public Schools in Maryland, had been cut off by another driver on his commute and was given the middle finger when he honked his horn. After issuing a reprimand, it took him a moment to realize that he was probably taking his frustration out on the student and may also have succumbed to implicit bias.

It turned out the student was then experiencing homelessness, and to this day, the exchange illuminates the distress that educators are sometimes causing students, albeit inadvertently, Bedell explains.

“The kid put his hand on my shoulder, he was crying and he said, ‘Mr. Bedell, you don’t even know me. I don’t get in trouble, I come to school every day, and you’re riding me over my pants … I’m trying to do my best and you’re getting ready to put me right back out on the streets I’m trying to escape,'” recalls Bedell, who was recently named by the National Alliance of Black School Educators.

“It floored me,” he adds. “It floored me.”

Connecting on a human level was the main reason Bedell took an extensive listening tour when he arrived in Anne Arundel County in July 2022 after spending six years as superintendent of Kansas City Public Schools in Missouri. He learned that parents and families wanted the district to transition to the science of reading and revamp the math curriculum and he heard concerns about staffing shortages.

He offers this advice to other incoming superintendents who would go on their own listening tours. “No. 1, be vulnerable—let people know who you really are,” he asserts. “People see superintendents as these robots and I’ve always felt like when I go out and I may crack a joke, I’ve seen teachers say ‘Oh he’s human. Oh, he has a personality.'”

That vulnerability—along with a recounting of his life story—provides credibility to engage in more difficult conversations about systemic problems in public K12 education. “I let people know I’m not perfect, I’ve made mistakes,” he explains. “I let parents know I’m here to make sure your kids are going to be able to prosper and they’re going to learn in a barrier-free environment, and there are some things we have done as adults to harm children that we can no longer allow to happen.”

For Bedell, that harm has been caused by implicit bias, which is why he will lay out the data when he meets with parents and plot out how the district is innovating in a more equitable and transparent direction. “We have assumptions and we have these expectations and we don’t know these kids and we harm them,” says Bedell, who also experienced homelessness as a child.

“I don’t want to be a superintendent who puts any further harm on these kids because of decisions we’ve made that create inequitable opportunities, that create barriers and that ultimately stifle any hope these kids may have that they can get through school and live a better life than what they’ve been handed.”

Keeping it real, people—on social media

Superintendent , who recently took the helm at Lake Dallas ISD in Texas, began using social media in the previous district she led, Lyford CISD, to remain in touch with families on a human level—particularly during the uncertainties of COVID. “It really eliminated a lot of opportunity for rumors and misinformation to be spread,” Brown notes.

Family engagement: 5 key strategies to help leaders connect more effectively

The connections she made motivated community members to alert her when they spotted false information being posted about her or the district on social media. She bolsters those relationships by regularly surveying her staff and the community, and ensuring all messages are translated into families’ preferred languages.

She encourages other superintendents to be brave and not be afraid to open themselves up in their in-person and online communications with their communities. “You have to be willing to hear the negative,” she explains. “People will take advantage on social media to share their unhappiness with your views or decisions. Take it in stride, and understand the positive outcomes of commutating with stakeholders far outweigh the negative response.”

Brown uses Facebook in particular to share “go team”-type posts about students’ achievements, such as broadcasting a pep rally on Facebook Live. “If it’s just information about the great things are kids doing, which happens on a daily basis, you can just post, you don’t have to share your own thoughts,” she concludes.

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The first prong covers alerts that keep families informed about what’s going on in schools, and these should be translated into as many languages as possible because these notifications are the “building blocks” of strong relationships, says , a former principal and teacher who is now head of education solutions for SchoolStatus, a communications platform. “If families don’t know what’s going on at school, there’s no way they’ll trust the adults there,” Stern asserts.

Those communications can then branch into two-way exchanges in which administrators and teachers ask parents for their feedback and come up with ways to better serve students, among other discussions. Research has even shown that students get better grades, have better attendance and are more likely to graduate high school when their teachers communicate regularly with parents and families, she notes.

“You have to know families’ hopes and dreams for their children,” Stern adds. “When you need to have a conversation, whether it’s positive or to discuss something that’s challenging, you’re not some stranger reaching out—there’s already a connection to what’s happening in the building or in the classrooms.”

To get a better idea of why some families remained disengaged, districts can dive into the data provided by digital communications platforms. Teachers and others can then reach out more directly, by phone and text, to ask these families how they would like to be kept in the loop. Some principals even use incentives, such as hiding clues in weekly newsletters and offering students rewards when families figure out the puzzle.

91¿´Æ¬istrators should also keep in mind that just because some families can’t attend school activities, it doesn’t mean they don’t care about how their children are faring. They may have other obligations, such as multiple jobs. In such cases, educators can livestream events, take videos, share photos and suggest questions parents can ask their children about the events.

5 keys to family engagement

91¿´Æ¬istrators should also be rethinking traditional events, such as open houses, with an eye toward increasing family participation. Rather than having families visit each teacher’s classroom for a short rundown on rules and curriculum, schools can organize hands-on activities that allow parents to help teachers understand how students learn best, adds Lauren Wells, who has researched family engagement as the manager of professional learning development at the testing nonprofit NWEA.

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For instance, on Math Night, students can show their parents how to solve problems the teachers have assigned in class. “Parents will feel like you’re really thinking about their student,” Wells points out. “If that becomes part of the school culture, you will start to see more engagement.”

Wells shares the following five steps to strengthening family engagement:

1. Relationship building: Aim for proactive communication that builds trust and supports ongoing interactions. How? Organize informal visits with families before the school year and commit to making early positive phone calls focused on learning about parents and their students.
2. Connect learning and development: Pairing engagement with learning and development supports student achievement, especially when educators help families develop knowledge and skills alongside their children. How? Provide resources that show parents and guardians how to teach their kids strategies for solving math problems or improving reading. Share conversation prompts in weekly emails and newsletters to support families in talking to their students about homework and other home-learning activities.
3. Asset-based family engagement: Recognize that families have strengths, skills and resources that support students’ learning and school improvement. Encourage parents and guardians to both recognize and leverage those. How? Invite family members to visit their child’s classroom and share a story about their lived experience.
4. Be culturally responsive and respectful: Respect the family’s values, cultures, languages and heritages when identifying and recognizing different types of engagement that will appeal to all families. How? Provide families with a range of communication channels—in their preferred language—from email and social media to phone calls and more. Show interest in learning how to pronounce and spell names, and support your teachers in doing the same.
5. Foster collaboration: Working together strengthens the positive community-building experiences among educators, families, and communities. How? When asking families to participate, consider reaching out to them in different ways: (1) weekly emails; (2) social media posts; (3) text messages; and (4) take-home flyers.

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Students who fall into crisis, including those who are now exhibiting unusually aggressive behaviors or skipping school, often lack “protective factors,” such as the ability to solve problems and build relationships, Samuell contends. Exacerbating these gaps are students’ dysfunctional home lives or responsibilities such as taking care of younger siblings or elderly relatives.

“Kids are coming to us lacking decision-making skills and coping strategies,” she adds. “They are faced with responsibilities beyond their level of development. They are coming to us with a lot more than they are developmentally able to cope with.”

Suicide prevention steps

Students who lack those coping skills are also more likely to engage in risky behaviors other than suicide and self-harm. Here are 5 steps that Samuell urges administrators to take to fortify their suicide prevention approach:

1. Creating a suicide prevention policy: It may sound obvious but it bears repeating. Districts need a clear and comprehensive suicide prevention policy that lays out professional development for educators and lays the groundwork for important school- and districtwide functions such as crisis-response teams. Here are some tips for .

2. “Gatekeeper” training for teachers and staff: As teachers are the most important part of the academic enterprise, they also play a key role in identifying warning signs of students who are in crisis. 91¿´Æ¬istrators must provide training to ensure teachers and other staff are able to recognize when a student is at risk of harming themselves or others. “One-stop-shop assemblies, though powerful and dynamic, can do more harm than good,” Samuell asserts. “Rather, we should embed prevention activities into classrooms—in health, English, PE—so we have prevention going on across the board.”

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3. Use universal screeners: Assessments such as the screener allow educators to gauge students’ social and emotional competence and then provide the necessary tier of instruction. “It allows us to teach from K12 in a targetted manner, just like we teach to academic skills deficits,” Samuell explains. Counselors can also use the to measure a student’s level of risk when they are talking about suicidal ideation or displaying suicidal behavior.

4. Strengthening school climate: Connectedness is the No. 1 factor when it comes to developing resiliency in students. Educators must help students feel confident that it is safe for them to raise concerns about bullying and other threats to their well-being. Students must also see that administrators and teachers are taking action when concerns are raised.

5. Technology’s role in suicide prevention: 91¿´Æ¬istrators and their teams need to leverage all the data they collect on students to identify academic, social and behavioral risks more quickly and comprehensively. Virtual counseling and therapy can also augment in-person staff when districts and schools are shorthanded.

“We have to get away from educators’ coming into the building thinking ‘I’m not here to parent, I’m here to teach,'” Samuell concludes. “We’re in a day and age where, at school, we provide the nurture, we provide the environment and we provide the academics.”

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The most important thing to know is that a district, no matter the size, can’t go it alone, says Marisa Mission, co-author of “,” Bellwether’s policy playbook for building statewide career pathways programs. Though the report focuses on Delaware’s program, its lessons—covering curriculum, internships and work-based experiences—also apply to district-level initiatives, Mission adds.

“Employers need to buy in to help determine curricula and help districts understand the competencies will get graduates employment,” she continues, adding that K12 leaders shouldn’t limit their programs to the high school level.

“Expanding to middle school expands equity,” Mission explains. “If students are aware of opportunities earlier on and learn more, they have more time to make choices. They’re on a more equal footing rather than having to rely on family or social capital.”

Here are seven steps s for forming key partnerships and paving career pathways:

1. Align on and articulate a vision: Districts can assemble an advisory committee that consists of educators, business leaders, local officials and community members. The group can draft a strategic plan that sets a broad vision, creates a structure for the pathways program and identifies underrepresented stakeholders.

2. Build and sustain key partnerships: The superintendent is likely the one who will begin forming partnerships with a wider group of employers that will provide work experience and with nonprofit organizations that can help with funding and coordination.

More from 91¿´Æ¬: Superintendent search: Why are applicant pools drying up in these big districts?

3. Ensure that programs are high quality and easy to implement: Identify and design pathways that meet the needs of local employers or fill gaps in other local career readiness programs.

4. Commit to data collection to assess impact and improve practice: Make career pathways data publicly available, including disaggregated data on participation and outcomes, to ensure programs are operating equitably. Districts can also share data with higher education and state labor agencies.

5. Create accountability around equity: Identify gaps and barriers that are limiting equitable access to career pathways programs. Convene teachers, parents, students and administrators to share ideas for closing equity gaps. Train district staff to identify and eliminate unconscious biases. Partner with advocates for historically underserved student populations.

6. Communicate the value of pathways programs to employers: Ensure industries and employers know the steps they cant take to support career pathways programs. Create a value-added argument that communicates why supporting pathways programs is good for business.

Bellwhether’s report also explores various funding sources districts and their partners can leverage to ensure career pathways programs are sustainable. “If a district is doing something great at the local level, it can inspire the state to take action,” Mission concludes.

District 91¿´Æ¬istration‘s Superintendent’s Playbook series examines how superintendents, principals and other administrators are solving common problems that today’s educators are facing.

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