NYC Schools To Focus On Social And Emotional Learning When Students Return This Fall
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- New York City Public Schools will reopen this fall with a special focus on students' mental health.
Mayor Bill de Blasio, first lady Chirlane McCray and Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza announced a new plan on Wednesday.
"Today, we're releasing the 'Bridge to School' plan to support students, educators and parents all across the city," McCray said. "Bridge to School offers guided language activities and community building exercises to support our students' mental health, especially in those first days of school when it's critical to help our students process what they've been through."
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The plan centers around social and emotional learning in the first weeks of school.
"These materials and lessons will help students build coping skills and process grief and reconnect, and allow students to orient themselves to learning online or in classrooms during the first few weeks," Carranza said.
The chancellor said the material will be available for both in-person and online learning.
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He said principals have already received training, and teachers will be trained by the start of school.
He also said there will be a hotline that teachers can call for best practices from mental health professionals.
De Blasio and Carranza also visited Bronx Collaborative High School on Wednesday to speak with parents and observe air ventilation inspections in classrooms to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
"We're getting ready for lift off. This is a final run through. What we're finding, we'll have numbers in the morning, but hundreds of schools have already passed. They've been all their classrooms checked, and we're gonna continue to give you updates day by day on how many schools have been fully checked and ready to go," de Blasio said.
New York City schools are set to reopen Sept. 10 with a mixture of in-person and remote learning.
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