The purpose of this brief is to define school climate, identify its domains which provides a framework for identifying strategies, and practices; and provides recommendations for assessing school climate.
School Climate and Culture
Cultivating Caring Relationships at School: 15 Activities That Promote Staff and Student Connection
This resource, coauthored and reviewed by California Center for School Climate’s Youth Advisory Team, contains 15 classroom-based activities that promote the development of positive relationships between staff and students at both the elementary and secondary levels. Activities are designed to be low cost and easy to implement. Each activity contains detailed instructions as well as adaptations for both in-person and online learning environments.
Watch this video to learn about an activity in the toolkit!
View the transcript.
Calming Spaces in Schools and Classrooms
As the places where young people spend a significant amount of their lives, schools have an immense opportunity to attend to the social, emotional, and mental health needs of students on a regular basis. Calming spaces can be integrated as part of a school’s comprehensive strategy to provide nurturing environments that foster positive student development and prevent harmful and persistent distress.
This brief describes calming spaces and the potential positive impacts that offering such spaces in schools or classrooms can have on students’ mental health and learning. It features several examples of calming spaces and related resources from California and beyond, provides an explanation of how calming spaces align with other initiatives for supporting student well-being, and offers practical guidance for educators to consider when setting up their own calming spaces.
Engaging the School Community in the Transformation Process
The perspectives of diverse school community members are integral to school climate improvement efforts and ensure that a shared vision for safe and supportive learning environments is authentic and effective. In this audiocast, you’ll hear how San Diego Unified’s Horace Mann Middle School has engaged in team-based climate and connectedness improvement work to promote supportive student-staff relationships.
View the transcript for this audiocast.
Download the Horace Mann brief.
Co-Designing Culturally Responsive Pedagogy with Tribal Partners
Culturally responsive and sustaining curricula that are by and about historically marginalized ethnic or racial groups are a powerful tool to engage students of color while combating deficit narratives found in mainstream curricula. School leaders can work with local community members in developing learning materials and sharing decision-making to improve school climate while affirming the value of all school community members. In this audiocast, you’ll hear about how Shasta County Office of Education has worked with local tribal members to form an American Indian Advisory group that co-creates lesson plans that celebrate and honor the history, culture, and continuing contributions of Native Americans.
View the transcript for this audiocast.
Download the Shasta County Office of Education brief.
A Community-Based Approach to Student and Family Well-Being
School districts that implement whole-community supports incorporate the needs of families and caregivers in their approach to student well-being. In this audiocast, you’ll hear about how Pajaro Valley Unified School District prioritizes community voice to provide responsive supports that promote multi-generational wellness through their Family Engagement and Wellness Center.
View the transcript for this audiocast.
Download the Pajaro Valley brief.
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