A trio of crises—the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting financial instability, and racial injustice—has disrupted learning environments and the relationships, structures, and supports that students depend on to thrive. The consequences are far-reaching, but they have been felt most acutely by our most vulnerable youth. In the face of these challenges, lessons from the science of learning and development illustrate how strategic attention to supporting social, emotional, and cognitive well-being can light a path forward. A new brief from the California Collaborative on District Reform, Ensuring Whole-Child Well-Being as a Foundation for Learning: Relationships, Routines, and Resilience in the Time of COVID-19, explores the ways in which the pandemic has introduced and exacerbated threats to whole-child health and well-being, but also draws attention to human resilience and the supports that can empower students and adults to navigate the obstacles in their way. It draws attention to relationships, routines, and resilience—“The New Three Rs”—as vehicles for supporting well-being and learning, and highlights emerging district practices that can foster resilience among all members of our school communities in this moment and beyond.
This brief shares insights from the California Collaborative on District Reform’s recent meeting on approaches to school re-entry during the COVID-19 pandemic. For more resources related to COVID-19, please visit https://cacollaborative.org/topics/covid-19.