Imagine not only waking up to a pandemic, forced to live in an isolated space without the physical and emotional support you need to learn, but also discovering that the place you call home has been deemed uninhabitable. This was the reality for many of the students and their families at Luther J. Price Middle School (LJPMS) after the city of Atlanta condemned property in the Forest Cove neighborhood in 2021.
There were over 300 families residing in Forest Cove and many of the children from these homes attended our school. Worse yet, we were still in the middle of a pandemic; Not only did we have to create innovative ways to teach and reach our children virtually, but we also had to ensure that our children and families were physically safe, nourished, and mentally and emotionally healthy to cope with the trauma they had just experienced.
The irony here was not the poor property management that doomed the properties in this community: the houses had been uninhabitable for many years before. If anything, the issue shed light on the lack of investment in the local communities where our students live and exposed the gap in mental health resources for students and their families.
As a school, we knew that if our students and families did not have the support they needed, student learning and engagement would be severely impacted. Over the past two years, I have worked with fellow LPJMS educators and administrators to design strategies to put social-emotional learning at the forefront of our curriculum and student and family engagement plan. What began as a daunting task became a mission to reignite the passion and commitment of our students while strengthening our local community.
Develop a framework for student engagement
As School and Community Engagement Manager and Parent Liaison, I worked with a team of LJPMS teachers and administrators to adopt a framework to re-engage students and families and restore a sense of love and belonging within the surrounding community. We decided that implementing a framework that incorporates social emotional learning (SEL) would help our students and families cope and heal from the inside out. SEL is defined as the process of developing self-awareness, self-control, and interpersonal skills that are vital to success in school, work, and life. When people are equipped with these skills, they can better cope with everyday challenges and positively improve all aspects of their lives, and given the situation we found ourselves in, there was no time like the present.
Once our school identified the need for SEL, we were able to rechannel our energy and focus on the inputs that would get our students back on track. Our educational spaces were transformed into sessions and platforms where students and their leaders could be authentically themselves and thrive in safe, supportive spaces. Specifically, each classroom included spaces where students could decompress, take a break, or meditate to be productive in the classroom. Those spaces included things like therapeutic herbal diffusers, headphones to listen to relaxing sounds, books, and journals to write down your thoughts. Students appreciated these spaces and were able to use them to self-regulate their emotions, find healthy ways to process trauma, and become more productive and present students in the classroom.
After we reached the peak of the pandemic and students were able to return to the classroom, we also knew it would be important to help them identify the importance of their place in the community. We wanted them to identify positive attributes about themselves and then leverage those attributes to build personal, social, and academic goals. Teachers began developing lessons focused on identity formation, and soon after, students began to embrace their identity and individuality, transforming our classroom and community culture.
One of the most impactful ways our students demonstrated their newfound confidence was by advocating for a new nutrition program at school. Over the course of a few months, students captured photos, videos, and comments from their peers to develop their case. When students presented their findings to our district leaders, the data revealed that more than 70 percent of students within the school were not eating breakfast or lunch. Students made the connection between healthy eating habits and student achievement and identified options district leaders and teachers could take to create a better nutrition program for students.
This presentation resulted in the district adopting a new food program for our district that was culturally appropriate, attractive, and good for students. When students saw the results of the work they had done, this affirmed how identity, advocacy, and work yield positive results.
For me, it was heartwarming to see the students regain their confidence after such a tragic event and I am glad we took the opportunity to make connections and build trust with the students so we could grow and become the community we sought.
Family participation and support
Just as we knew we couldn’t instruct with a one-size-fits-all mentality, we also had to apply that same philosophy to student families. Our parents longed to leverage their knowledge to support their children’s learning journey. Witnessing firsthand the stressors that many of our families experienced allowed our teachers and learning community leaders to understand how we could better support our children and the families we serve.
This was the beginning of my transition from the classroom to a role as a family engagement liaison. I asked to be a conduit to interact with our families to rebuild trust, ensure families feel welcome, and build a stronger connection between our school community and families in the Forest Cove neighborhood.
First, I began by establishing Parent University, a place where parents could come and access resources to create better conditions for themselves and their children. Parents can access resources such as GED courses, resume writing, financial education, and individual and family therapy. During this time, I also took advantage of our internal partnership relationship with Communities in schools who provided a liaison team at LJPMS that could work with students and families individually to understand basic needs and help them secure housing, healthcare and meals.
We also set out to improve our relationship with our external community partners, including CORa nonprofit organization I worked with to provide programming and support to trauma-impacted students and families who are marginalized by poverty and race-based educational inequities. Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation has been a viable resource for our families displaced by the Forest Cove demolition, as well as families who are dealing with legal or landlord issues, or those who are survivors of intimate partner violence. Last but not least, cris 180 – one of the Southeast’s leading mental health, child welfare and family organizations – has been available on site to meet the mental and emotional needs of our students and staff.
A community that heals together stays together
Through this process, we learned to give up the power we thought we had in this space and become vulnerable. We depended on each other, loved each other, and supported each other at a time when so many things were uncertain for all of us.
This community was an example of resilience at a time when most would have given up. We took advantage of our creativity and learned to work outside the box. We become foot soldiers and fight for the social-emotional learning of our students and the well-being of our families. If they didn’t come to us, then we came to them. While we celebrate the impact of the work we have done, we know we must continue to heal and build our community to keep our students and families engaged.
Of course, things will never be what they were, but we are building a better school and community; Most importantly, we are developing leaders. Moving from an educational leader role to a school and community engagement leader was a blessing. In this role, I can do work that creates a bridge from the classroom to students’ homes and communities. While the displacement of our students and families tested our resolve, I am grateful to work with colleagues and peers who care about improving the circumstances of our students as much as I do.
