PLS 2021 Adaptive Leadership

Healthy, well-balanced educators and quality social connections among all stakeholders are
vital components of a thriving school and community. Inarguably, such conditions create a safe,
equitable, and collaborative environment for students to feel belonging and be engaged in
learning. Discover flexible strategies to honor, cultivate, and leverage every stakeholder’s
strengths - from your staff, to students, to parents, and others - that you can easily integrate into
what your school is already doing for increasing connectedness. Youth who feel connected to
school are more likely to want to come to school each morning and do well. School
connectedness also has been shown to mitigate or protect against emotional distress, including
symptoms of depression and anxiety, and to be associated with less disruptive behavior and
involvement in violence, substance abuse, and delinquency. By strengthening your school’s
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culture of connectedness, you’ll gain higher ground in stakeholder engagement and school
climate goals. Aligns with and amplifies multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) and CASEL
competencies.