NC Center for Resilience & Learning

Building resilience and success for all North Carolina students and educators.

Our mission is to build resilience and success for all North Carolina students and educators.

Using school-specific training and coaching, we seek to create safer and more supportive schools that champion the whole child, reduce the impact of stress and trauma, and foster school communities where all feel valued.

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What We Do

The North Carolina Center for Resilience and Learning is a whole school, whole child framework working with districts and schools across the state to create trauma-informed learning environments that are safer and more supportive for ALL students. The Center aims to build understanding and awareness about trauma, stress, and their potential impacts while also helping schools focus on resilience, support, and safety for their staff and students.

To do this, our model provides two core components: 

  1. Professional development for educators on trauma and its potential impact on student learning as well as school-based strategies for building wellness and resilience for staff and students.
  2. Ongoing coaching and technical assistance for a core team within a school to support moving past training and awareness and into action. Our coaches help schools to create and implement an action plan of resilience-building strategies tailored to the needs of their students, staff, and community.
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What We Do
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Why are trauma-informed schools important?

Research shows that students who experience 3 or more ACEs score lower than their peers on standardized tests, AND are:

  • more likely to be suspended or expelled 
  • 2.5 times more likely to fail a grade
  • up to 32 times more likely to be identified with learning and behavioral problems
Learn More About Our “Why”

Our Impact

We have seen the way our work has transformed entire schools, with positive impacts such as significant reductions in discipline referrals and suspensions, students feeling an increased sense of belonging at school, and changes in staff mindset around building relationships with students and understanding of the causes behind student behaviors. To read more about the impact we have seen over the last five years, check out this data and impact summary report.

57% decrease in discipline referrals
One partner school with 488 students went from 257 discipline referrals to 111 after implementation.
63% decrease in suspensions
Another partner school with 842 students went from 123 suspensions (includes out-of-school, in-school, and bus) to 45 after implementation (based on 4th quarter projections due to Covid closures).
  • 70% of our partner educators said they saw changes in their relationships with students while working with the Center for Resilience & Learning.
  • 69% of our partner educators noticed changes in how they think about causes of misbehavior or in their responses to misbehavior.

Our Reach

We have partnered with 32 districts to provide some form of trauma-informed training or coaching

We have partnered with 60 schools (and counting) with our full model of year-long intensive training and coaching

We have led trauma-informed schools training with over 4,000 educators

There have been 26,176 students in our full model partnership schools where staff have received intensive, ongoing training and coaching

*The majority of our partner schools are Title I with greater than 90% of students receiving free and reduced lunch

Testimonials

“Before, when seeing behavior problems, it was about what’s wrong with me as a teacher or wrong with this kid; now I am asking why — where is the behavior coming from? And how should I respond to it? Having those conversations in the forefront has helped teachers think differently about why students behave the way they do and how to respond.”
Classroom Teacher in Johnston County Public Schools

“Learning about [the trauma-informed strategy of] restorative practices for students to rebuild relationships when things have gone wrong, even with teachers and students together – this has led to such growth as a community and a classroom. We are able to get more teaching done and focus on academics; instead of something stewing and building, we’ve been able to discuss it and address it and create a plan and build it back up into something positive.”
Classroom Teacher in Lee County Schools

“It may feel overwhelming because it is another thing you are learning but to really remember that resilience is not what you do but how you do it – it is a mindset shift rather something new you have to do.”
Student Services Staff in Lee County Schools

“From day one, the Forum invests their time and wants to craft this work to the needs of [our school]. Together, we created an action plan based on the true needs of the school. The Forum did not come to us with a view of ‘how can we fix the school’ and there was not a ‘one size fits all’ which creates gaps rather than closing gaps.”
Principal in Nash County Public Schools

“This program has given us resources and tools to educate our students in dealing with situations so that they are more successful with their academics.”
Classroom Teacher in Jones County Schools

“The collaboration with the Center for Resilience and Learning has helped our school feel like a different school now than when I first started.”
Principal in Johnston County Public Schools