Blog Posts -- Who's integrating ACEs?

ACE's & COVID-19 - Change is coming: Ethos is, as ethos does - Are we all on-board with the following ethos? ETHOS: If a child commits a criminally-prosecutable act then it is a matter for doctors, not police (for HIPPA, not FERPA)! Well? Onboard? If one grasps the prior, the following is then readily self-evident: CORPORAL PUNISHMENT lays the foundation for abuse and occurs in 80% of households and 15% of schools. Corporal Punishment implicitly perpetuates, condones and promotes th

Over many years researchers in the learning sciences, psychology, anthropology and neuroscience have learned a lot about how humans learn. One of the key properties is malleability. The brain changes in response to relationships and experiences, continuing to develop through young adulthood. And while the children in any class will develop differently based on their experiences, the brain will grow and change with the right inputs. "What's most interesting is a child can become a productive...

Teachers and school administrators are learning how to identify childhood trauma to better address student mental health and behavioral issues. The Adverse Childhood Experience, or ACE, Questionnaire is designed to determine a child’s risk due to childhood trauma. Things like divorce, neglect, violence, drug or alcohol abuse and physical or sexual abuse can cause an ACE score to go up. The higher the score, the more at-risk the child is considered. Cathy Grewe, coordinator of assessment and...

With Thanksgiving behind us, and the new year looming ahead, we are clearly in the midst of the holiday season. It is easy to focus on our students and their behavior this time of year. However, I would like to turn the focus back on us: the educators, caregivers and administrators. Though it is likely for different reasons than our students, many of us find the holidays to be a rather stressful time. You may be hosting, cooking, traveling, shopping, wrapping, financially strained,...

How do we know whether we are becoming a trauma-sensitive school? In previous blog posts we explored elements of the inquiry based process including importance of establishing a steering committee, identifying urgencies, designing actions that address the urgencies in a trauma-sensitive way and creating the action plan. We now turn our attention to thinking about measures of success that can help schools answer the question “how do we know we are becoming a trauma-sensitive school?” The...

“We’re all humans and we’re all going through the same things,” Kelsey Sisavath explains. “It’s important for everyone to know. It can change your perspective on how you see yourself, how you see others, and how you see the world.” The “it” Kelsey is talking about is trauma-informed and resilience-building practices based on the science of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) . She has a unique perspective on the topic given her range of experiences throughout her 19 years of life. The story...

EVERETT — As you learn to look at something in a different light, it can change the choices you make. When children get into trouble at school, sometimes the root cause is trauma and toxic stress they have experienced outside the classroom doors. If the people who provide care for them — including teachers, principals and social workers — know how to recognize and address that trauma, they can do a better job. They can try to make sure it doesn’t keep the child from growing academically,...

Elizabeth Meeker, an ACEs Connection member from Monroe County, New York shared that her county schools added ACEs questions to their Youth Behavioral Risk Survey (YBRS) in 2015, which is administered to students in schools. They were kind enough to share the instrument as well as a summary report of findings (both attached here). Elizabeth has indicated that she is available to answer questions that you all may have about the implementation of the survey. Thank you Elizabeth, for sharing!

Last New Year’s Day, when 13-year-old Lee Weathersby III was shot and died in Oakland, Calif., nearly 200 of his middle school peers and teachers received therapy. In the Oakland Unified School District, Sandra Simmons’ job is to help coordinate that therapy on school campuses. As a Behavioral Health Program Manager for the district, Simmons oversees crisis response across the district. She has organized behavioral health training and counseling for students, teachers, staff,...

OurSOLES (Our Students of Leadership ~ Empowerment ~ Service) high school students from the City Heights neighborhood of San Diego, CA, led an interactive, hour-long trauma-informed presentation for Diego Valley and Diego Springs Public Charter School educators, tutors, school administration and staff last August 14, 2015.

Two-and-a-half years ago, a school administrator confronted District of Columbia Councilmember David Grosso with a stark and surprising reality when he visited the Walker-Jones Education Campus to learn about a literacy intervention program. At the...

We just completed the first round of providing extensive professional development to virtually every teacher working in the juvenile justice education system in the state of Ohio!! The feedback from teachers has been overwhelming.  When thinking...