Trauma-Informed Schools

Committed planning team members met bi-weekly, beginning December 2, 2021, in preparation for the four-part Trauma-Informed Learning Community series which launched in San Diego, California, with Session #1 on May 20th. This series brought together seventy-five cross-sector service providers, agencies, and schools who work with teens, transitional-age youth, and families and was hosted by Diego Hills Central. The series would not have been the success that it is without Area Superintendent...

By Jessica Marie Baumgartner / Image Go2Tutors / August 5, 2022 In the fashion of other failing public schools that have implemented WOKE politics into their curriculum, the San Diego Unified school district is decrying tests as racist. The school's trustee claims that measuring student ability through tests is "rooted in racism." While some agree that standardized testing is not always the best method to determine student progress, tests in and of themselves come in many forms. Hands-on...

The Dibble Institute is pleased to present an introductory webinar by Rev. Dr. Bryant T. Marks Sr. of the National Training Institute on Race and Equity , which will provide foundational information on implicit bias. It will focus at the individual level and discuss how implicit bias affects everyone. Strategies to reduce or manage implicit bias will be discussed. Broadly speaking, group-based bias involves varying degrees of stereotyping (exaggerated beliefs about others), prejudice...

The pandemic has had a lasting effect on youth mental health. Moved by a desire to reduce youth’s toxic stress and increase their resilience, The Dibble Institute, in partnership with a team of students and alumni from ArtCenter College of Design and author Carolyn Curtis, PhD, is releasing Me & My Emotions —a new, free adaptation of our beloved Mind Matters Curriculum. The mobile-friendly Me & My Emotions website features engaging graphics and bite-sized lessons teens can access and...

President-Elect Joe Biden announced Monday he has nominated San Diego Unified School District Superintendent Cindy Marten to the post of deputy secretary in the federal Department of Education . Marten has been SDUSD superintendent since 2013. She got her start as a teacher and school-wide literacy specialist in the Poway Unified School District and has worked as an educator for 32 years, including 17 years as a teacher and stretches as principal and vice principal. She worked for 10 years...

Students will no longer be graded based on a yearly average, or on how late they turn in assignments. Those are just some of the major grading changes approved this week by California's second-largest school district. The San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) is overhauling the way it grades students. Board members say the changes are part of a larger effort to combat racism. “This is part of our honest reckoning as a school district,” says SDUSD Vice President Richard Barrera. “If we’re...

Amelia -- Just a friendly reminder that today is the big day! San Diego Unified School District will be voting on the School Climate Bill of Rights. We will meet at 4:30pm at 4100 Normal Street, San Diego, CA 92103. The board meeting will start at 5pm and the School Climate Bill of Rights is the first agenda item (E.1.). If you have not done so, please rsvp at the following link: http://www.midcitycan.org/sdusd_school_board_votes_on_school_climate_bill_of_rights Come out and show support!

Kevin Beiser acknowledged what brought hundreds of parents, teachers and students Wednesday evening to a dusty ball field in Old Town — the fear of “what it would be like in Nazi Germany.” But school board member Beiser promised the San Diego Unified School District would “push back” against enablers of hate. Trustee Richard Barrera noted a 950-word school board resolution approved last week “reaffirming values of peace, tolerance and respect for multiple perspectives.” (see attached)...

A school in San Diego uses a “facility dog” to offer children a kind of healing that humans sometimes cannot provide. It used to take Mary Skrabucha five minutes to walk across the campus of The O’Farrell Charter School in San Diego. Now it takes her twenty, because with Sejera — a golden retriever  — by her side, kids and teachers are constantly stopping to say hello. Sejera isn’t your average friendly retriever. She’s a trained “facility dog” who works with Skrabucha in Family Support...

Civic leaders stand with Supt. Cindy Marten to announce significant, systemic emphasis on 'Restorative Justice' next year in San Diego schools . Advocates for restorative justice say the program can help keep young people in school or on the job – and out of the prison system. Superintendent Cindy Marten agrees the program has the potential to help those students most at risk of serious discipline issues; however, she says restorative justice has the potential to help every student in the...

Yoga classes will continue in the Encinitas school district for at least the next year, but the conflict over the program is likely to stretch on as the district searches for a permanent way to fund it. At a packed meeting Tuesday, the Encinitas Union School District board approved $416,000 for a health and wellness program centered on yoga practice, as part of its 2016-17 budget. That amount was scaled back from the $800,000 that Superintendent Tim Baird initially wanted to spend on...

This video is about 2 years old, but I just came across it last week and wanted to share with you all. It is a powerful statement by the students at Leadership High School in San Francisco, CA. They speak about the ongoing adversity and toxic stress in their daily lives and in their community, all through the power of music. The youth voice is so important as we work to bring trauma-informed and resilience building practices to communities. Link to video: Toxic Stress, Toxic Streets