Webinar Recap: Back-to-School Student Support Series

The number three has a powerful rhythm: Ready, set, go. Stop, drop, roll. Lights, camera, action. 

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This concept set the stage for the trio of topics featured in our Back-to-School Student Support Webinar Series: engagement, attendance, behavior—all of which are undoubtedly top of mind for educators returning to the classroom for the 26-27 school year.

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The three events spanned three weeks in August and united hundreds of educators across the country on the common belief that belonging is the key to unlocking student support success. Along with each of the slide decks and recording, here are some of our favorite takeaways from each session.

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Pt. 1 Relationships & Engagement

To kick off the webinar series, we began by unpacking the importance of belonging, and how strong student connections with adults are a foundation for positive school culture, engagement, and academic outcomes.

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From there, our team was joined by Jennifer Tyrone, Wellbeing Teacher on Special Assignment from Good Hope Elementary in Southern California’s Perris Elementary School District. Tyrone shared how proactively and intentionally the entire district supports SEL core competency and wellbeing skills, and how this is reflected in dozens of initiatives and positions across the school.

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“At the center of everything we do is one simple belief: everyone deserves to feel seen, valued, and like they belong,” Tyrone explained. “That belief guides how we intentionally connect academics and social emotional development.” 

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Some of Good Hope’s programs that help bring this vision to life include dedicated wellbeing teams, SEL Super Power Growth Checks, Sown To Grow reflections, weekly wellbeing meetings, and daily huddles.

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🌱 Access the Pt. 1 Slides & Recording to learn more about Good Hope’s inspiring wellbeing programs, and gain a collection of new ready-to-use resources for your classroom.

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Pt. 2 Belonging & Attendance

With chronic absenteeism rates continuing to be stubbornly high across the country, the next session in the series on improving attendance resonates with most educators and administrators.

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No one was better to help us tackle this issue than Dr. Brenda Diaz, Executive Principal at Nashville Big Picture High School within Metro Nashville Public Schools. As a veteran leader whose school is outpacing the district by nearly 10% in reducing chronic absenteeism, Dr. Diaz deeply understands the roots of this work, and offered attendees words of wisdom, as well as practical strategies to make a real difference in their own attendance data.

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“The proof is in the pudding,” she said. “People need to know that you really truly care about them. And it's not so much about the incentives. You can give all the parties, we do all of those things, but what we do well is making sure that families know we see their kid.”

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From formalized systems like MNPS’s Navigators initiative and Sown To Grow’s weekly check-ins, to more casual lunch bunch groups or greeting parents in the parking lot during drop off, Dr. Diaz and her team prioritize “personal but purposeful” relationships.

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“We have over 20 years of doing this work,” Dr. Diaz explained, “but Sown To Grow has just helped us level it up with the technology of ease of really being very more strategic around how we are documenting the work that we do around building belonging and building sense of community and quality relationships for kids.”

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In addition to digital tools, this is done through practices that are restorative instead of punitive, and celebrate improvements, not just achievements—all with the goal to “create an environment where students are comfortable, connected, supported and motivated to attend consistently.”

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🌱 View the Pt. 2 Slides & Recording to learn more about these specific frameworks and programs to improve attendance at your own school.

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Pt. 3 Belonging & Behavior

The final session in the Back-to-School Student Support Webinar Series series covered a topic that’s not only vital to a successful school year, but especially timely for 26-27 as well. 

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As recently reported in a new EdWeek Research Center survey of more than 1,000 teachers and school and district administrators about major challenges they expect to face in the year ahead, 75 percent ranked student behavior as a top concern, followed by student engagement at 70 percent.

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Given the widespread apprehensions around behavior, it’s clear educators are in need of more support, and they can’t be expected to pour from an empty cup. Along with a strong Tier 0 of adult wellness, a structured and universal Tier 1 system is the first step in rebuilding school culture to support positive behavior.

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As emphasized during the event, if we expect students to focus, follow rules, and engage in learning, we have to consider what they may be carrying into the classroom. Compliance issues are often due to a lack of unmet needs, so going back to basics to consider issues we cannot see is a helpful start: 'Has this child had breakfast? Did they get a good night’s sleep? Do they have a caring adult who says goodbye to them before they leave for school?'

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In this webinar, we had the pleasure of co-presenting with Ellen Colvig, a SEL Lead and ELA Teacher from Alta Loma Middle School in South San Francisco Unified School District. Although Colvig felt overwhelmed by behavior management needs in the past, she feels fortunate to have found a solution that worked for her. 

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“What is the magic formula? There isn’t one,” she quipped. “But we know that sense of belonging has a huge impact on not just our staff’s ability to not be burnt out, but also our student-staff relationships.”

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In her role, Colvig created a yoga and mindfulness elective, and integrated Sown To Grow’s emotional well-being check-in throughout the school. Both of which reaped incredibly successful results—including a 13 percent increase in self-management, and a 14 percent increase in self-awareness. The program also earned Alta Loma a J. Russell Kent Award for outstanding initiatives.

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In other data provided during the webinar on how to improve behavior across K-12 schools, Dr. Monica Coverson shared the results of a recent study that showed how Sown To Grow reduced exclusionary discipline three times more than schools not using the platform.  

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🌱 To dive deeper into this study and the other behavior-related frameworks and supports provided during the webinar, check out the Pt. 3 Slides & Recording.

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Sending Support & Well Wishes for a Successful Year

The start of a new school year brings plenty of challenges, but it also brings an opportunity to build the kind of community where every student feels seen, connected, and ready to learn. We hope the strategies and insights from this series give you a few new ideas to strengthen belonging—and, in turn, engagement, attendance, and behavior—all year long.

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Here’s to a successful 2026–27 school year filled with connection, growth, and plenty of reasons to celebrate your students. We’re cheering you on every step of the way!

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_{Ready to turn these strategies into action? Let’s connect to explore how Sown To Grow can help you strengthen student support this school year.}