Preventing Violence and Building Community by Transforming School Culture

Gestalt Community Schools operates five K-12 college-preparatory public charter schools serving 2,526 students in low-income, predominantly minority Memphis, Tennessee communities. The student demographics include 73% African American, 25% Hispanic, and 72% low-income. The project is designed to tackle a variety of socioeconomic and behavioral challenges. It includes behavior interventions and violence prevention. Behavior intervention training activities will support School-wide Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports, Crisis Prevention Institute (CPI) Nonviolent Crisis Intervention, Leader in Me behavior management program, and Gestalt Progressive Accountability, a whole-child approach to meeting the behavioral, social, intellectual, and emotional needs of students. PowerSchool Behavior Support and restorative practices will contribute to a safe and supportive school climate. The STOPit Anonymous Reporting System will allow school staff, students, and parents to report concerns about student well-being, mental health crises, bullying, or potential school threats. ClassDojo Plus and LiveSchool platforms will support school to family communication and parent involvement. Installing vape detectors and cell phone lockers will contribute to a safer school environment. Mental health support will include all school counselors to be certified in Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools, a cognitive and behavioral therapy intervention focused on reducing symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder and depression caused by exposure to violence; all network staff will receive Youth Mental Health First Aid training; and all students will complete mental health check-ins daily via the Rhithm app. To address community safety and violence prevention, we will implement an annual Community Safety Summit for school and community members and produce safety and violence prevention information guides and informational videos for charter school network and the larger community.