Creating Safe and Supportive Schools: A Community Schools Model at Work

Abstract

With the goal of creating a safe and supportive environment, a collaborative group of school districts in Wayne County, NY utilize a Community Schools model to gather and organize resources. Through experience, and collected data, administrators in this group have supported the development of culturally responsive trauma-informed community schools that integrate school and community resources to provide evidenced-based and restorative practices organized by a Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS). It appears that a significant correlation exists between the implementation of these practices and improvement in several key categories regarding the well-being of our young people.