Inspiration from Brittany Barros-Soares, Fifth Grade Teacher at H.D. Cooke Elementary

Ms. Barros-Soares is a 5th grade teacher and Whole Child Model coach at H.D. Cooke Elementary, a District of Columbia Public School. H.D. Cooke is one of the first schools working to adopt the model. Recently, we asked her about the impact this work had on her students. Here is what she shared:

I have one student in particular that comes to mind, and I'll call him Nate. Nate was a second-grade student pre-COVID. He had a really challenging time in school. Staff had created a code-red response system that was used often because he would elope from the classroom and the school and had behaviors that were unsafe for himself and his peers. He was in crisis almost every single day. When coming back to school in person post-COVID, we were prepared to fully relaunch the model and I was ready to welcome him into my class.  I had many staff members come to me to almost "prepare" me to have him in my learning space, expecting the behaviors exhibited by Nate in second grade to return. I'm not going to lie, it made me feel a little bit nervous. I wanted to be really prepared to meet his needs. He eventually entered into a classroom that had fully taken on this whole child work and Nate just flourished. 

Nate came into the classroom at the beginning of the year and although the transition back to in person learning was tough for him and us all - it seemed he felt so safe. He was instilled with the language to express his needs, not only academically, but also socially and emotionally.  His moments of crisis decreased dramatically; I could probably count on one hand the number of times throughout the school year that he was in crisis mode. There were no more code-reds for him! Nate continues to thrive and has almost completely transformed as a child in his school setting, which was once so triggering for him. 

He shows that this work is so transformative, not only for us as a staff and as teachers, but most importantly for our kids. I've witnessed firsthand seeing him feel so safe and connected, loved and valued while at school and this has just completely transformed his relationships with his peers as well as with his teachers. More importantly, academically, his growth has been truly amazing to see. I think as we know, when kids feel loved and connected, and their social and emotional needs are met, there is a direct tie to their academic growth and success. It truly brings tears to my eyes, because he has just made such dramatic growth.