All You Need Is Love: Our School’s Journey to Thriving Together
Dr. Patricia Hurrieta • Cahn Fellow 2023
The Cahn project aimed to foster a sense of belonging within our school community, recognizing the fractured culture and disengagement following the return to in-person learning after COVID-19. Conducted in a southwest Denver school serving a diverse population of around 300 students from early childhood through middle school, the project was initiated based on staff and student surveys, which highlighted significant concerns about trust, safety, and school culture. Our hypothesis was that by improving school culture, we could positively impact social-emotional health, engagement, and academic success.
Our approach involved analyzing survey data, suspensions, attendance, and re-enrollment, revealing declining staff and student morale, inconsistent discipline, and weak community connections. We partnered with the district's School Climate Development (SCD) team to observe, assess, and support the establishment of more consistent and inclusive practices. This led to the creation of a "Thrive Team" focused on establishing a welcoming environment with restorative practices as the core method for addressing behavior and cultivating relationships. We developed a new vision and mission that emphasized love, belonging, and growth, and trained staff in restorative practices.
Action steps included engaging staff in redefining the school's culture, partnering with SCD to assess and refine practices, and implementing restorative practices to foster relational trust and consistency. The school embraced restorative principles like accountability, repair, and reintegration, while professional development was provided to equip staff with necessary tools. A new Thrive guide was created to set clear expectations for behavior management.
The results showed positive trends in school climate and engagement: students independently conducted restorative circles, indicating an internalization of new values, and staff embraced the new vision and mission. Attendance increased from 84% to 92%, and chronic absenteeism decreased significantly. Mental health measures showed some improvement, with a decrease in students at extremely elevated risk, although academic performance showed a slight decline, likely due to the initial focus shift to culture-building. The project demonstrated that creating a strong, inclusive school culture has a positive impact on social-emotional health and engagement, laying the foundation for future academic success.
