Latest News

School Safety Assessments This Summer

For more than two decades, the Center for Safe Schools has been committed to developing creative and effective solutions to problems that disrupt the educational process and affect school safety. The Center provides training and technical assistance to help schools identify and implement effective programs and practices, and maintain safe, productive learning environments. In addition, the Center serves as a statewide clearinghouse for educators, parents, law enforcement and others on school safety and youth violence prevention.

Mindfulness and Parenting

Parenting can bring waves of feelings. There are high and low emotional tides, and in between there is always movement. As caregivers navigate this complex moment in time, mindfulness can help adults to care for themselves and build protective factors.

Testimony to the House Education Committee: Reopening of Pennsylvania Schools

On Wednesday, June 17, 2020, the Pennsylvania Statewide Afterschool/Youth Development Network (PSAYDN) provided written testimony, in partnership with Boys & Girls Clubs Pennsylvania Alliance and the Pennsylvania State Alliance of YMCAs, to a virtual House Education Committee information meeting to discuss plans to safely reopen schools in the fall due to COVID-19. The testimony informed how afterschool can support schools in their reopening, shared various learning models across the state, and provided recommendations in spacing, funding and support.

2020 Summer ELD Professional Learning Series Announced

Join Center for Schools and Communities English language development (ELD) experts for these free virtual workshops. Events are open to any educator who is currently employed by a public licensed educational agency. Space is limited in each session; register today!

We see you. We hear you. We care about you. Your lives matter.

The past weeks have again highlighted social injustices in our society. We stand in solidarity with our communities of color, vulnerable youth and marginalized populations. We mourn the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and countless others who have died unjustly because of systemic and institutionalized racism, implicit bias and prejudice.

What's Hot in STEAM this Summer

Join us for the “What’s Hot in STEAM this Summer” webinar series presented by the Pennsylvania Statewide Afterschool/Youth Development Network (PSAYDN). This 6-part series will share ways to bring STEAM to life for out-of-school time youth through exploration of entrepreneurship, career paths, empathy in engineering, service learning and more.

Center Staff Receives Youth Advocate Award

Center for Schools and Communities is pleased to announce that Nichole Fisher received the 2020 Youth Advocate Award from the Academy for Adolescent Health. Each year since 2005, they award an individual that embodies the Academy’s philosophy and foundation.

We May Be Physically Distant, but We Need to Stay Socially Connected

The phrase “social distancing” is so counterintuitive. We are asked to be physically distant to stay healthy, and we need to be socially connected to stay healthy. Luckily, those setting policies are beginning to understand this. In March, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that, “while maintaining a physical distance” was “absolutely essential” amid the global pandemic, “it does not mean that socially we have to disconnect from our loved ones, from our family.”¹ This idea is gaining ground with more people beginning to use the phrase, physically distant.

Let’s Work Together to Keep Parents as Teachers Home Visiting Available to Families during COVID-19

Pennsylvania Parents as Teachers (PAT) State Office at Center for Schools and Communities is joining with the national PAT organization to mobilize at every level to proactively and aggressively protect the health and well-being of children and families. As part of this effort, we are pleased to share their recent, relevant and reliable information and tools to assist Pennsylvania affiliates in making your voices heard.

Pennsylvania Youth Hold Town Hall with Lt. Gov. John Fetterman

Student-led virtual event aims to address concerns about COVID-19, schools and afterschool programs

HARRISBURG, Pa. – Today, Pennsylvania youth will lead a town hall meeting with Lt. Gov. and Second Lady Fetterman. The virtual event provides an opportunity and platform for young people to share concerns about COVID-19 effects on their families; and ask questions about the afterschool and out-of-school time programs they rely on for academic help, extracurricular activities, service learning and career exploration.

New Resource for Pennsylvania Educators of English Learners

Everybody’s Kids is an e-newsletter for all Pennsylvania educators of English learners, including administrators, content-area and classroom teachers and ESL specialists. The 2020 spring edition of Everybody’s Kids discusses how teachers can use instructional scaffolding to enable their English Learners to develop new linguistic and cognitive resources to use both in and beyond the classroom. Similar to the construction scaffolding placed around the exterior of a building, instructional scaffolds are temporary supports for students to build onto their existing knowledge, and these learning supports are removed or shifted once students meet their goals. Teachers should think about the specific needs of their students as well as their learning strengths and personal backgrounds when selecting scaffolding strategies. In order to help ELs achieve English language proficiency, teachers can utilize a myriad of instructional supports, such as establishing classroom routines, using consistent language patterns, modeling student activities, intentionally gesturing and using visuals. The goal of instructional scaffolding is to provide students with the support they need until they can do (or say) what they want on their own.

Call for Presenters 2020 Safe Schools Conference

2020 Safe Schools Conference “Keeping our Children Safe: Strategies for Schools and Communities”
December 8-9 | Hilton, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania | #SafeSchoolsConf2020

High quality, effective presentations addressing best practices relative to school safety and youth violence prevention are needed. Based upon that criteria, and professional development needs expressed by Pennsylvania educators and administrators, the following conference themes have been identified: Bullying Prevention; Cybersecurity; Effective, Safe and Secure Virtual Instructional Programming; Emergency Response and Crisis Management; Positive School Climate; Student Wellness; Youth Violence Prevention; and Open Category.

Submission deadline: Friday, June 5, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. ET

Submit a Proposal