25-05-2025
What are schools doing to save vulnerable students?
Editor's note: This story is part of 'Hard Times,' a special report by The Republican on the challenge of healing from civic trauma.
In struggling neighborhoods across the city of Springfield, children grow up in 'survival mode.'
'You can't address trauma without understanding the history of urban poverty — segregation, neglect and marginalization,' said Yolanda D. Johnson, chief of student services for the Springfield public schools.
Life in survival mode wears students down, making it hard to learn. 'But we want our students to thrive,' Johnson said.
In Springfield's schools, 85% of students are from low-income families, nearly double the state average, and 89% have high needs.
In struggling neighborhoods, children grow up in 'survival mode,' Johnson said, which wears them down, making it hard to learn. 'But we want our students to thrive.'
To do that, educators must acknowledge trauma as a reality, said Yveline Hulse, a school adjustment counselor in Springfield. She follows the four Rs: Realize trauma exists, recognize students' specific experiences, respond appropriately and build resiliency. 'We have to create islands of competency for our children to succeed,' she said.
It all starts with relationships.
'Poverty does not mean you can't learn,' Johnson said. The challenge is how schools interpret students' struggles.
Damion Dallas, a school adjustment counselor, says the key is trust. 'Square one is establishing a relationship,' he said. 'So many kids don't have a safe outlet to communicate their concerns.'
In Springfield, that means implementing a 'primary person model' — ensuring each student has a trusted adult in school. 'Research shows that increasing belonging reduces anxiety and trauma symptoms,' Johnson said.
Teachers need to step in early, not just when things go wrong. 'If you know your students, you should know their triggers,' Hulse said. 'We have to be present, ask how we can help, and respond before issues escalate.'
At the end of the day, what happens in the classroom is what really counts. 'It's one thing to have a trauma-informed district,' Hulse said, 'but what happens in the classroom every day makes the biggest difference.'
For a child experiencing trauma, the classroom can feel like a howling wind tunnel — overwhelming, chaotic and impossible to focus in.
'Trauma takes up operating bandwidth they can't put into impulse control,' said Tim Oaks, a trauma therapist who works at the Northampton Trauma Institute and Child Trauma Institute.
As a result, students may be misinterpreted as disruptive when, in reality, they are struggling to regulate their emotions.
The Massachusetts Department of Education urges schools to become trauma-sensitive — training staff to identify trauma, adjust teaching methods and connect students with mental health resources.
It's all about keeping things on an even keel. 'Predictability helps students feel more secure — reducing transitions and providing advance notice can make a significant difference,' Oaks said.
While public schools strive to implement trauma-sensitive practices, alternative programs like The Care Center in Holyoke have created deeply supportive spaces that transform lives.
The center sits in a neighborhood struggling with poverty, where violence and trauma are part of daily life.
Yet inside its renovated red brick mansion, the school provides a supportive environment where young mothers and low-income women thrive — often in ways they never have before.
Each year, approximately 100 students enroll in The Care Center's college preparatory program, while an additional 50 take part-time college courses at partnering institutions. Seventy-five percent of its graduates enroll in college, far above the national average for high school equivalency earners. Additionally, 95% of its college students are the first in their families to attend college.
'Our goal is to create an environment where our students feel emotionally and physically safe,' said Executive Director Oona Cook. 'We pay very close attention to what might be triggering for our students and address it immediately.'
The center's staff members approach each student as an individual, addressing their specific academic and emotional needs. 'Our small classrooms give us the opportunity to really build close relationships,' Cook said. Classes sometimes have as few as 10 students.
The school promotes a 'culture of resilience.'
'It's not just about where you came from,' Cook said. 'It's also about what you've endured and the changes you're able to make moving forward.'
Outside the classroom, students do hands-on art, visit museums and take part in activities like rowing, yoga and pickleball. Most importantly, students learn they belong in school.
'I was talking to one student yesterday who started in our high school program,' Cook said. 'The first day she came here, she felt like her daughter, who was in our daycare, had 10 new aunties. When she walked in the door, she felt like part of a family.'
That same student is now in the center's microcollege, and her mother has applied to start next semester. Seeing families succeed, Cook said, is inspiring.
'There's the transformation of the student, and because our students are also young mothers, there's the transformation happening for their children,' Cook said. 'But it doesn't stop there. It extends to their parents, siblings, and partners. It changes their community.'
Read the original article on MassLive.
