History

STRIVE (Supportive Trauma Interventions for Educators) was developed through a collaborative partnership between Boston Medical Center Child-Witness to Violence Project, Boston Public Schools, and Vital Village Network. STRIVE aims to improve student success by improving the quality of teacher-student interactions using an evidence-based, trauma-informed model. STRIVE was designed in response to the ideas, requests, and concerns raised by educators, parents and administrators in several Boston Public Schools. The model is designed to be sustainable by developing leadership and expertise within schools.

Trauma-Informed Practices

STRIVE aims to help schools and early education systems of care increase their capacity to identify, respond to, and optimally support the unique needs of young children who have been impacted by trauma exposure. STRIVE works on several levels to build resiliency of students by supporting educators and caregivers, improving classroom environments, and developing trauma-sensitive school systems connected to community-based resources:

• First, building the capacity of teachersto support students by enhancing their understanding of trauma, and its impact on learning and behavior and use this knowledge to optimize classroom environments.
• Next, promoting trauma-understanding and socio-emotional awareness of caregivers and parents through parent workshops and a backpack toolkit for the home.
• Finally, mobilizing community-based resources and health services to create a comprehensive network of services for children and families connected to the school system and fostering local leadership trajectories to sustain trauma-sensitive approaches beyond the tenure of the intervention.

Goals

STRIVE uses a multidisciplinary, cross-sector network to build the capacity of supportive adults (parents, caregivers, educators, etc.) to address the needs of children exposed to trauma. Toward that end our three goals are:

1. To improve socio-emotional regulation for children and improve student-teacher interactions
2. To integrate a cultural lens that acknowledges inequities in exposure to adverse childhood experiences, in order to create inclusive learning environments for students
3. To promote trauma-sensitive school environments by leveraging existing data and coordinating partnerships to build institutional capacity of public schools that serve minority and disadvantaged youth

Trainers

Neena McConnico, PhD, LMHC; Courtney Bailey, LICSW; Stacy Normand, LICSW; Akiesha Ortiz, M. Ed.; Renee Boynton-Jarrett, MD, ScD

Current Collaborators

• Child Witness to Violence Project

• Boston Universal Pre-K (UPK)

• Boston Public Schools (BPS)

• Succeed Boston (formerly the Counseling Intervention Center) at BPS

• Children's Services of Roxbury Preschool 

Offerings

• Single-day Training: Overview of trauma within the school context. Focus areas: neurobiology, attachment theory, secondary trauma, and race, culture, & oppression.
• Two-day Educator Workshop: 16 hour, intensive training which includes a comprehensive overview of trauma and applied classroom strategies for educators.
• Full STRIVE Model: A whole-school approach which includes professional development trainings, consultations, and follow-ups. Minimum 1 year partnership commitment from institution required. 

Trauma-Informed Practice: Free Online Course on Cox Campus

Learn how to use a framework of trauma-informed practice to build classrooms of students who are able and ready to learn. Every child deserves academic success. With these strategies, you can help ALL children on the road to not only learning but also healing.

Request and Learn about Partnering with STRIVE

• Intake Form

• Pamphlet

• STRIVE Partnership Framework (SPF): 1 and 2-day

• STRIVE Partnership Framework (SPF): Full Model