Courageous Conversations provides training and facilitation on race- and equity-related topics.  The interactive sessions with PPS leadership is transformative as it moves people from theory to practice while they engage, sustain and deepen conversations about these important issues.  All participants across sectors work together to examine the impact of race on their lives personally, professionally and organizationally.

School professionals make a world of difference when they reach out to grieving students. PPS has access to easily accessible modules that can assist and inform regarding:

• The importance of reaching out to grieving youth
• Strategies for starting the conversation
• Navigating reluctance and communicating with empathy

As the district focused on trauma, we also focused on grief.  A partnership with Grief Speaks allowed both staff and students to learn how to navigate loss and grief.    Staff were trained on supporting students through grief due to a variety of loss situations (death, divorce, moving, etc).  Students at 11 elementary schools were provided classroom presentations on coping with stress, loss and developing healthy coping tools and empathy.

When compared to their heterosexual and cisgender peers, LGBTQ+ youth disproportionately suffer from a host of mental, physical and social health issues. Sexual minority youth are often targets of prejudice, discrimination, and bullying in their schools, communities, and sometimes in their own home. Therefore, LGBTQ+ youth are more likely to experience feelings of isolation, depression, and low self-esteem, increasing their risk for depression, drug use, suicide and other risky behaviors.

The district partnered with Garden State Equality, New Jersey’s largest LGBTQ+ advocacy and education organization, to provide professional development to staff in order to best support those who identify as part of the community. Training began with an overview to understand sexuality and the basic stages of sexual development regarding the general, physical, cognitive and emotional milestones people undergo as they mature.  Staff also learned how to become an ally with education about the statistics in the LGBTQIA+ community and the disadvantages they face.  Both sections of the training go in-depth on how one can better cultivate safe spaces and how to show up for communities that are not your own.

Care Plus NJ provided Mental Health 101 trainings to district administration, inclusive of Principals, Vice Principals, Supervisors and the Early Childhood Education Department as a crash course to understanding current trends experienced by the youth of today.  Additionally, high school students were provided Say Something presentations, focusing on empowering voices to speak up about violence and mental health that they see and experience in their lives.  All sessions were led by New Jersey licensed mental health professionals.

Mindful Schools partners with schools from across the United States to create inclusive school cultures that prioritize the healing power of relationships and well-being.  Mindful Schools offered both Mindfulness Foundations and Mindfulness in the Classroom courses to PPS staff.  The training allowed for exploration of personal self-care and wellness as well as ways to support students through mindful communications.  The programming integrates research-based and trauma-sensitive practices to create inclusive spaces where students feel a greater sense of safety, belonging and curiosity.

Individual district schools have implemented restorative justice as a proactive method to address conflict for years, setting ground for an initiative for district wide implementation. Restorative Practices are all about transformational relationships. The goals of restorative practices in schools:

• Create a restorative and inclusive school climate rather than a punitive one
• Decrease suspensions, expulsions, and disciplinary referrals by holding youth accountable for their actions through repairing harm and making amends
• Include persons who have harmed, been harmed, and their surrounding community in restorative responses to school misconduct
• Re-engage youth at risk of academic failure and juvenile justice system entry through dialogue-driven, restorative responses to school misbehavior

PPS has partnered with Paterson Education Fund to provide intensive training for core teams in each district school. Training and additional support is ongoing.  When trained, the following ideals and practices can be enforced:

• Connected Relationships
• Nonviolent Communication
• Agreements: Building Consensus
• Positive School Climate
• Repairing Harm
• Restorative Circles & Active Listening
• Strength-based Concepts
• Trauma Informed Lens

PPS updated all district curriculums to infuse SEL across the disciplines.  To further enhance the social emotional need of youth across the country, PPS was an innovator in the state by hiring staff to perform direct services with both students and staff with the SEL Team.  The SEL Team consists of SEL Interventionists (works directly with students) and SEL Instructional Specialists (works directly with staff).  Resources are created with direction from the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL), noting the 5 competencies

• Self-Awareness
• Self-Management
• Social Awareness
• Relationship Skills
• Responsible Decision Making

Social justice means that everyone’s human rights are respected and protected.  Because of this, the PPS Social Justice Committee was born, ensuring that we have social justice represented in our school community.  The committee was broken down further into smaller subgroups that addressed topics related to our social justice beliefs, including:

• District Equity Plan
• Grading and Curriculum
• Professional Development
• Crisis & Community Resources
• Equity and SEL for Students
• Discipline
• School & District Culture and Climate

Subgroups would come together with the aim to open the doors of access and opportunity for everyone in our district community, emphasizing that every student has the chance to succeed and reach their full potential.

The district recognizes and understands that exposure to trauma and adverse experiences leads to the activation of the body’s acute stress response system and that chronic activation during childhood can have a disruptive effect on typical development, including the development of attachments, sensorimotor skills, self-regulation, impulse control and higher order cognitive functioning. 

PPS partnered with Care Plus NJ to provide workshops to our staff, enhancing abilities to:

• Realize the impact of early childhood and developmental trauma, neglect and abuse on the organization and functioning of the brain
• Recognize the signs and symptoms of trauma
• Identify impacts of external stresses, bullying and trauma
• Increase co-regulation between students and teachers

The YES Program partnered with PPS to empower student voice.  The YES approach amplifies collective innovation and supports individuals in understanding their personal journeys and interconnectedness as stewards of equity in their learning community. Implementing the YES approach will

• Promote multigenerational collaboration as a pathway for school innovation and impact
• Provide community-building strategies to co-create soulful, inspired, brave, and inclusive learning spaces
• Nurture a school climate that celebrates the nuances of culture and nurtures a spirit of belonging
• Leverage student partnership and perspective as an essential asset to counteract educational inequities

The YES program has been enacted in 10 district schools and has proven beneficial by administrator, staff and student review for empowering student voice & leadership, systemic equity, school culture and climate and student engagement.

Many PPS staff have been trained in Youth Mental Health First Aid.  This training teaches participants how to identify, understand and respond to signs of mental health and substance use challenges among children and adolescents, covering:

• Common signs and symptoms of mental health challenges, including anxiety, depression, eating disorders and attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD)
• Common signs and symptoms of substance use challenges
• How to interact with a youth in crisis
• How to connect the youth with help
• Expanded content on trauma, substance use, self-care and the impact of social media and bullying