NC Center for Resilience & Learning

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

We have seen this work truly transform schools. Many of our partner schools have had a complete culture shift and now focus much more on building relationships, safety, and connection in their buildings. Staff see student behavior in a different way and are really asking “what happened to you” instead of “what’s wrong with you.” With this mindset shift, schools are putting into place new interventions and practices that provide support and connection along with teaching new skills related to regulation and social and emotional learning instead of immediately turning to punitive responses and removing students from the classroom or school. Click here for recent highlights of our work in the news.

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 39 districts to provide some form of trauma-informed training or coaching

We have partnered with 78 schools (and counting) with our full model of year-long intensive training and coaching

We have led trauma-informed schools training with over +6,200 educators

There have been +57,158 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

Stories from our Partner Schools: In-Depth School Case Studies

McGee’s Crossroads Elementary School
Baskerville Elementary School
Comfort Elementary School

Research in the field of trauma-informed schools is still in its infancy and Covid-19 interrupted data collection and evaluation efforts even further. Prior to the launch of the NC Center for Resilience & Learning, early findings from other states leading trauma-informed schools initiatives included:

Source: Dorado, et al (2016) & Stevens (2012)

“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
Impact report 8 years 2024Download