Required trauma/racial-trauma training for all staff members
Trauma teams
Adopting a districtwide trauma plan
Reviewing policies when disciplining students
Working to create psychologically safe environments for students and staff alike
Adopting a districtwide social-emotional learning curriculum (Character Strong)
Trauma-Informed Care
Student Support and Behavior Intervention Handbook
JCPS is committed to creating trauma-informed, resilience-building, and culturally competent environments districtwide and in all of our schools where students, faculty, staff, and families feel physically and psychologically safe. We recognize the impact trauma can have on students and staff across multiple areas, including but not limited to, academics, behavior, and social-emotional success. We are committed to promoting the six guiding principles of trauma-informed systems—safety, trustworthiness and transparency, peer support, collaboration and mutuality, empowerment, voice and choice, and equity—for all students and staff in order to maintain a trauma-informed climate and culture that builds resilience, promotes positive mental health and wellness, and maximizes learning to reach our potential.
Overview
Trauma can be defined as witnessing or experiencing an event that poses a real or perceived threat. In JCPS, we strive for every building and staff member to work from a trauma-informed approach. As a district, we understand that trauma impacts behavior, learning, and relationships; therefore, we must have a holistic approach to meeting students where they are in order to create psychologically safe environments where all students can thrive.
Being trauma-informed is a shift in mindset. Trauma-informed staff create spaces that are psychologically safe for all individuals. Trauma-informed environments promote authentic feelings of being physically, socially, emotionally, and psychologically safe.
The goal is to ensure practitioners are trained to use TIC strategies to recognize signs of trauma, consider the presence of trauma in student behavior or stress, and create trauma-sensitive plans and solutions to support students and all members of the community.
At the district level, this includes the following:
At the classroom level, this includes the following:
Creating corrective, emotionally safe relationships with students
Creating psychologically safe classrooms and schools through a trauma-informed school climate and culture
Creating psychological safety for individual students through safety messages
Using trauma-informed academic correction strategies
Using the trauma lens to inform IEP, FBA, and 504 Plans for students with trauma-related concerns
Addressing cognitive distortions that negatively impact student academic and social functioning and behavior in school
Managing trauma reminders in the classroom
Understanding the impact of trauma on learning
Integrating self-regulation and calming strategies into classrooms
Developing and implementing trauma-informed safety plans
Utilizing trauma-informed disciplinary responses
Infusing trauma-informed practices at the universal, targeted, and intensive intervention tiers
Creating awareness that racial trauma impacts individuals in the school setting and providing supports for students and staff alike
Other Resources
Trauma Overview