Wilson High School for the first time is training staff to provide executive-style coaching to students with executive function challenges often experienced because of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) or trauma, attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and/or non-traditional learning styles. Wilson High School is the sixth school in the Tacoma School District to use a coaching program designed and administered by the non-profit Edge Foundation. Other Tacoma schools that are using Edge coaching include Jason Lee, Giaudrone, Mason and Truman middle schools and Oakland High School. Students in those schools have shown significant improvements since the coaching program was introduced in 2011. The Edge Foundation has proven that providing personalized coaching to at-risk students helps them succeed and meet their potential. The foundation was founded by Neil Peterson, who has led public transportation agencies in Seattle, Oakland and Los Angeles and was founding chief executive of Flexcar, now known as Zipcar. He started the foundation after seeing how executives benefit from coaching. The foundation was established to test whether providing specialized, one-on-one coaching could turn around students who are at risk of dropping out of school due to adverse childhood experiences and executive-function challenges (such as ADHD) that inhibit social and emotional learning. The foundation’s goal is to provide coaches to all 7- to 24-year-olds in the country.

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