Our Approach

The Positive Learning Collaborative transforms schools by empowering educators to bring equity to education. Through our healing-centered training and support, we provide educators and administrators, as well as families, with the skills, tools, and mindset needed to turn their schools into joyful communities in which to learn and grow.



Our model of school support and district collaboration strives to assist school communities in understanding and addressing the trauma and chronic stress that many of our students live with as a result of structural racism, classism, poverty, and biased-based bullying.

			

			

				
				
				
				
			

				

				
				
				
				
				

			

				
				
				
				
			

				

				
				
				
				
				

				
				
				
				
				
Our Process

			

			

				
				
				
				
				

				
				
				
				
				
Our process is community-driven, built on existing school strengths. We collaborate with administrators and educators to establish school teams that identify strengths and needs, as well as examine data.

			

			

				
				
				
				
			

				

				
				
				
				
				

				
				
				
				
				
 


1

			

				
				
				
				
				
Assessment

			

				
				
				
				
				
First, we get to know you. Through extensive conversations with administrators, as well as an internal school-climate survey taken by all staff, our team works to understand your school’s unique strengths and challenges. This data allows us to collaboratively identify and implement smart strategies to target improvements where they are needed most.




Together, we develop a comprehensive action plan tailored to your school’s specific needs and designed to help every student reach their full potential. Our entire process is driven by listening, learning and implementing side by side with the members of your school community.

			

			

				
				
				
				
				

				
				
				
				
				
 


2

			

				
				
				
				
				
Training

			

				
				
				
				
				
Next, we get educators trained. We train every educator in how to build in restorative practices — because we know real change occurs when an entire school community is using common language around behavior. Our custom curriculum for Healing-Centered Schools teaches educators and school leadership how to help students learn constructive and adaptive ways to deal with feelings.




Based on your school’s needs, additional supports — such as mindfulness programs and movement-based-learning practices — are also integrated to address your school’s unique strengths and challenges.

			

			

				
				
				
				
				

				
				
				
				
				
 


3

			

				
				
				
				
				
Support

			

				
				
				
				
				
We stick around. Ensuring each school has the tools to sustain these healing-centered practices is essential to our approach. Our multi-year partnership with your school community lasts long after each educator receives training. We offer administrative planning and leadership coaching; district-wide workshops and opportunities for professional learning; and family support groups and workshops.




With the help of insights from follow-up staff surveys, we clarify schools’ ongoing needs and prioritize areas for targeted support. We always hold ourselves accountable for results, making sure positive school culture is here to stay.

			

			

				
				
				
				
			

				

				
				
				
				
				

				
				
				
				
				
			

			

				
				
				
				
			

				

				
				
				
				
				

				
				
				
				
				
Our Support Pathways

			

			

				
				
				
				
				

				
				
				
				
				
All PLC partner schools have access to healing-centered training that integrates our five essential support pathways, designed to provide school communities with knowledge, techniques, and ongoing resources for responding to trauma and stress.

			

			

				
				
				
				
			

				

				
				
				
				
				

				
				
				
				
				
Equity

			

				
				
				
				
				
We increase equity in education by recognizing the intersectionality of identities — from race, to gender and sexual orientation, to ability — among students, educators, administrators, and families within every school community. By helping schools embed Culturally and Historically Responsive Education (CHRE) into their work, we instill a framework that recognizes that every school has its own unique context, and each student has their own unique background, strengths, and needs that impact their success.

			

			

				
				
				
				
				

				
				
				
				
				
			

			

				
				
				
				
			

				

				
				
				
				
				

			

				
				
				
				
			

				

				
				
				
				
				

				
				
				
				
				
			

			

				
				
				
				
				

				
				
				
				
				
Restorative Practices

			

				
				
				
				
				
Restorative practices build a community-based approach to problem-solving and conflict resolution through which schools can strengthen relationships between individuals, as well as social connections within the whole school community. Core to our team’s restorative work are Community Building Circles, a classroom practice — which draws from indigenous traditions — that educators can use with students to grow connectedness, foster relationships, make collaborative plans, discuss difficult topics, and teach social-emotional skills. PLC provides both training and classroom coaching to help educators become experts in building brave and open Community Building Circles.

			

			

				
				
				
				
			

				

				
				
				
				
				

			

				
				
				
				
			

				

				
				
				
				
				

				
				
				
				
				
Wellness

			

				
				
				
				
				
Mindfulness and movement practices are shown to mitigate the impacts of stress and trauma within both adults and children. Building mindfulness skills helps individuals bring awareness to their body, breath, and mindset with clarity and compassion, encouraging lasting empathy toward our collective experience. Our team infuses wellness practices into the classroom to help educators and the students we serve to connect, focus, and relax. We partner with expert practitioners often to teach new techniques.

			

			

				
				
				
				
				

				
				
				
				
				
			

			

				
				
				
				
			

				

				
				
				
				
				

			

				
				
				
				
			

				

				
				
				
				
				

				
				
				
				
				
			

			

				
				
				
				
				

				
				
				
				
				
Sensory Tools

			

				
				
				
				
				
Sensory supports are physical activities or objects that can be calming and increase alertness to help students get to a “just right” state for school, safe and learning-ready. Supports such as light filters, noise reducing headphones, fidget toys, and “wiggle seats”, allow students to regulate their nervous systems based on their individual needs, lessening anxiety, providing a sense of comfort, improving creativity, promoting relaxation, and even decreasing crisis. During the 2020-21 school year, PLC used grant funds to design sensory tool kits and provide them to more than ten thousand classrooms in qualifying schools.

			

			

				
				
				
				
			

				

				
				
				
				
				

			

				
				
				
				
			

				

				
				
				
				
				

				
				
				
				
				
Family Support

			

				
				
				
				
				
PLC works with partner schools to provide supportive, courageous, and empowering spaces for families to be in community. Our online gathering place is a space for parents and caregivers to talk about how they are coping with the many challenges coming their way, be real and share what’s working and what’s not, and encourage and help one another. In family-support spaces, parents and guardians find relief from life’s stressors by sharing experiences, connecting with others, and learning skills and strategies to deal with the unique challenges of raising compassionate children today.

			

			

				
				
				
				
				

				
				
				
				
				
			

			

				
				
				
				
			

				

				
				
				
				
				

				
				
				
				
				
			

			

				
				
				
				
			

				

				
				
				
				
				

				
				
				
				
				
Our Partners

			

			

				
				
				
				
				
			

				
				
				
				
				
			

				
				
				
				
			

				

				
				
				
				
				

				
				
				
				
				
Dr. Gholdy Muhammad

			

				
				
				
				
				
PLC has partnered with Dr. Gholdy Muhammad to bring CHRE to New York City schools using her framework of the Five Pursuits: Identity, Skills, Intellect, Criticality, and Joy. Our schools receive training from Dr. Muhammad and her team, as well as ongoing coaching and support from PLC behavior specialists. Dr. Muhammad is an Associate Professor of Literacy, Language, and Culture at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She has previously served as a classroom teacher, literacy specialist, school district administrator, curriculum director, and school board president. She studies Black historical excellence in education, intending to reframe curriculum and instruction today.



			

			

				
				
				
				
				

				
				
				
				
				
Embodied Wisdom

			

				
				
				
				
				
Embodied Wisdom is a program for school communities that shares movement and mindfulness practices in a straightforward, intentional way. Educators and students are taught to connect, breathe, move, focus and relax — fundamental life skills that are immediately available for daily use. Utilizing these practices in schools can increase students’ capacity to learn effectively, manage challenging emotions, and achieve personal and academic success, while also helping to make both the lives of students and staff healthier.



			

			

				
				
				
				
				

				
				
				
				
				
Welcoming Schools

			

				
				
				
				
				
Welcoming Schools is an innovative program for administrators, educators and families who want to strengthen their schools’ approach to student diversity, gender stereotyping and bullying, and help prepare this and future generations of children to live in an increasingly diverse society. As part of the Human Rights Campaign curriculum to create brave and respectful spaces for all kinds of students and families, it is one of the few resources available to elementary schools that is inclusive of LGBTQ+ families and individuals.