Title: How Trauma-Informed Schools Help Every Student Succeed
Headings: How Trauma-Informed Schools Help Every Student Succeed
How Trauma-Informed Schools Help Every Student Succeed
Trauma-informed schools have become essential to successfully addressing the broadening spectrum of ACES.
“Promoting trauma-sensitive school approaches has the greatest potential to positively impact all students, regardless of trauma history.”
The value of trauma-informed schools is rooted in the universal best practices of trauma-informed care.
Trauma-informed schools incorporate policy, procedure, and curriculum into a holistic approach that supports every student’s potential.
Trauma-informed schools are safer, more successful, and support stronger communities—and crisis prevention training can play an important role.

Content: Safer schools are more successful schools—when they include community collaboration. Developing an effective and coordinated approach to trauma-informed care requires an awareness of the environmental, social, and economic factors that may be fueling adverse events that subsequently impact a child’s performance in school. Example: Aware of safety concerns in a school’s neighborhood, the principal gathered information from community members to facilitate structured dialog between the city council, police department, and parents. Over time, engagement ratings improved, as did school climate and safety metrics. Ultimately, this school became the first to reach their state’s standardized test score benchmark, closing a critical educational gap. With immense diversity within the US, each school has its own unique dynamics to cope with. But as the NCTSN has pointed out, a trauma-informed approach is one that can bring all schools to an equal standard of excellence: Specifically, a trauma-informed school promotes a safe and welcoming climate; seeks to create a structured and predictable learning environment that minimizes unnecessary trauma and loss reminders;