Helping Students Heal: Observations of Trauma-Informed Practices in the Schools

From the city streets of New Haven, Connecticut, the rural mountains of Appalachia, and the heart of San Francisco, students across the nation are coming to school with traumatic histories that are greatly impacting their school performance. Schools are recognizing the impact of trauma and beginning to adopt trauma-informed practices. When school systems approach students through a trauma lens, they are better equipped to provide the educational and social–emotional supports necessary to help students reach their potential. The following commentary reviews the implementation efforts of three different trauma-informed school programs and their use of the multitiered interventions to address the differing needs of trauma-exposed students. Implications for future directions are addressed, including the need for support for more intensive educator professional development.