50 years of research show the massive benefits of actively partnering with families to improve their child's learning. Who benefits? Everyone! Our youth, educators, families, and schools all benefit from effective family partnerships.

Effective management of groups is essential for creating a positive and productive learning environment. Whether working with children, teens, or adults, these essential tips will make sure your group is ready to learn and thrive!

The first few months are critical in shaping a new employee's experience. This guide provides key actions managers can take to foster strong relationships, open communication, and a supportive atmosphere that benefits everyone.

Summer programs are all about fun, learning, and making memories. But the Texas sun can damper even the most enthusiastic campers. We've created an infographic with tips to help you navigate the summer heat and ensure a fantastic summer program experience for everyone. Take a peek and discover ways to keep your cool this summer.

In search of engaging approaches to foster the emotional well-being of youth? We've assembled a handy tip sheet brimming with practical social and emotional development activities and strategies. Equip yourself with tools to support your youth manage their emotions.

Our brains are receptive to what's new, curious, or unexpected. When audiences are distracted, try some of these engaging strategies to hook them at the start of a new lesson or unit.

Restorative Circles are a crucial component of Restorative Practices. By gathering in a circle, every individual can see and hear one another. Restorative Circles offer shared responsibility, ownership of choices, safety, trust, and connection. Moreover, circles can be utilized in a variety of situations.

Restorative practices are an invaluable tool for fostering social-emotional skills in youth. Conversely, social-emotional development is also a crucial component for youth to meaningfully engage with restorative practices. These skills will not only help your students learn better but also develop into better citizens. The benefits of these practices extend beyond the classroom. Check out this month’s tip sheet for some skills that are part of restorative practices.

Restorative practices are a set of strategies programs can use. They are rooted in repairing harm and building and repairing relationships. There are a lot of ways to build relationships between staff and youth; building relationships between youth is just as important! This month’s tip sheet shares some ideas for doing just that!.

Restorative practices are a relationship-based approach to conflict resolution and disciplinary issues that brings together those involved and those affected. They are rooted in repairing harm and building and repairing relationships.

It’s never too early or too late to introduce kindness. Kindness promotes empathy and compassion, enhances relationships and teaches SEL, just to name a few!

Having positive relationships with non-parental adults is proven to impact youth’s lives in positive ways.

Think of your favorite book—it grabbed you from the start, kept you hooked with mystery or excitement, and left you satisfied yet craving more. Let's infuse that captivating essence into our lesson plans, sparking a love for learning in young minds!

We are wired for connection. When we make connections with our youth, when we consciously build trust, we improve learning opportunities for everyone.

A debrief can help you assess what went well during summer, as well as any challenges or pain points. Use this feedback tool with your team to help you continue to improve and plan for next summer.

Brain Breaks help kids and teens feel refreshed and ready to learn. This tip sheet provides a few different types of brain breaks.

This tip sheet provides you with some strategies to help you create effective partnerships with your families.

This tip sheet provides you with some tips for infusing social and emotional learning (SEL) outside the classroom.

Positive and supportive staff relationships are the foundation to a thriving program. While relationships have always been meaningful, they are now more vital than ever.

When afterschool and summer teams engage in a Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) process, they maximize their impact and potential. A great first step in the process is to conduct a program observation.