5 Ways to Establish a Supportive School Environment

Are you looking for more ways to create a supportive school environment for your students and staff?

Building relationships with our students in our schools is one of the most important things to build community at the beginning of each school year. Showing respect and establishing a school community is vital not only to our students but to our staff as well.

Are you scratching your head, thinking, What strategies can I implement to create a more supportive and engaging school environment for students and staff?

You’re in the right place! 

I have a proven, 5-step process to help you create and build a supportive school environment based on my research and experience over the past 17 years.

We’ll cover everything from building relationships to learning how to facilitate open communication.

Just follow the steps, and by the time you finish Step 5, you’ll feel like a pro and enjoy encouraging positive school cultures and how to prioritize your well-being.

Step #1: Build Strong Relationships 

Getting to know and understand the learning styles of your students is essential at the beginning of each school year. It’s also important to learn about your school community. 

So, the first thing you need to do is invest time in building trust-based relationships. Ask students about their interests and their daily lives outside of school. I always discuss and bring my students’ interests into my everyday conversations and lessons in the classroom. 

• Engage in open communication, active listening, and empathy to establish connections. Give students your undivided attention and listen to what they say; they will open up to you. Eye contact is also essential! 
• Foster a sense of belonging and community within the school while forming genuine connections. What are some ways to foster that community in your school? Have team competitions where students are sectioned or drawn into houses to build relationships with students of other grades (think of the Hogwarts houses!) Having school-wide clubs is another way to promote community. Have your teachers sign up for a club they would like to host. 
• Share anecdotes and experiences highlighting the importance of relationships in a supportive environment. 

One way to convey meaningful relationships with students, colleagues, and parents is to identify common difficulties. Plan stories of struggle with your students. Tell them about a time when you had to face an obstacle. 

Share an experience with a fellow staff member or parent to build a common bond. Sharing your stories and experiences can show helpful information. Be raw, messy, and human, and you will see the connections start to grow! 

Step #2: Promote Social-Emotional Learning in the Classroom

At this point, you’re probably thinking this is too difficult and time-consuming to get everyone else on board. 

You may even wonder, I’m just one person in my entire school; how will I get them to do this?

One thing that may help is to take notes and make a plan to increase awareness… one step at a time!

It’s time to get to work and start positively changing your building!

This step is crucial because it will help you highlight the positive impact of SEL on creating a safe and empathetic school culture and make it easier to overcome objections by emphasizing the long-term benefits of a student’s social and emotional well-being. 

Plus, you will have a process for incorporating SEL programs and activities into the school curriculum that will highlight the positive impact of creating a safe and empathetic school culture. 

Here are some tips to help you move through this step quickly:

• Focus on developing essential life skills (Such as emotional intelligence, communication, and resilience for succeeding in all stages of life) 
• Discuss the importance of long-term benefits of a student’s social and emotional well-being 

What to look out for:

When promoting social-emotional learning, I started implementing these strategies without building relationships and realized the importance of developing these foundational skills first. 

I’ve also been able to peek under the hood at other’s school environments. In the process, I have witnessed common mistakes people make that hold them back from highlighting the positive impact of SEL. 

Many of them relate to this step:

• Mistake #1: Using “Off the Cuff” Lessons. Instead, research successful ways to incorporate strategies, lessons, and activities for student growth. 
• Mistake #2: Assuming all students have the same problem. Each student is unique and has their own strengths/weaknesses. Help students realize their potential and how they can use their gifts to contribute to the school community. 
• Mistake #3: Having a fixed mindset. Our students, staff, and parents can be hard on themselves. Using a growth mindset and developing essential life skills such as emotional intelligence, communication, and resilience can break that barrier. 

Just keep implementing SEL strategies, and you’ll be on the right track.

Step #3: Encouraging a Positive School Culture 

Next, we’re going to work towards building a positive school culture. While you’re doing this, make a note of how to address potential challenges and how to work towards solutions. 

Using problem-solving techniques promotes active solutions that benefit your school, staff, and parents. 

Make any adjustments you need to make before you move on. 

If you want, you can download my School Environment Assessment Checklist. I created it to help you promote a supportive school environment without becoming frustrated.  

Click here to download the School Environment Assessment Checklist to get started. 

It may be hard to zero in on creating that positive school culture.

What to do: 

• Foster a positive and inclusive school culture that celebrates diversity. Recognize that each student has a unique background that needs to be celebrated and acknowledged. Bring in speakers from different industries, have a cultural night at your school, or have parents/teachers share customers or traditions they celebrated growing up. 
• Implement strategies for a supportive educational environment, such as anti-bullying initiatives. We can encourage students to speak up when they see a bullying situation at school or build a buddy system where students look out for one another. 
• Address potential challenges within the school culture and actively work towards solutions. Listen to the concerns and questions of your students and parents. We want our students to have a safe and supportive zone at school. This can easily be done in your advisory council.

Step #4: Prioritize Self-Care and Well-Being 

It is time to recognize the importance of self-care in maintaining a healthy and supportive school environment. A self-care culture movement surrounds us, but it is essential and here to stay!

What to look out for:

No matter what you do, overworking won’t help your mental health. 

If you do, you’ll only risk the well-being of establishing relationships with peers, students, and the school community. So here are a few practices that we can give to our students. As the saying goes, “How you treat yourself will set the tone for your other relationships.”

Here are some strategies that we can give to our students (and even practice for ourselves): 

• Give practical self-care strategies tailored to the unique challenges faced by school counselors. Invite your counselors to discuss self-care practices with the student body to help them relieve stress and anxiety. 
• Balance personal and professional life to avoid burnout and enhance overall well-being. Making a to-do list or checklist of the most important tasks will help us accomplish what we NEED to do.
• Share testimonials from counselors who have experienced positive transformations through self-care practices. 

I like to host challenges in school where the staff and/or kids can participate in daily activities to take care of themselves and give practice actions to manage stress.

Step #5: Facilitate Open Communication 

This is the last step. Get ready to celebrate!

Encourage transparent and open communication with students, staff, and parents. The big question: How can we effectively do this? 

Here’s how to get the best results:

• Establish effective channels for feedback, allowing everyone to voice their thoughts and concerns. Teach your students that everyone has an opinion. Have students practice active listening by demonstrating what this should look like. 
• Utilize digital tools and platforms to streamline communication processes. Conduct polls and surveys online to school platforms on how to communicate. 
• Emphasize the role of communication in creating a collaborative and supportive atmosphere within the school.

Teaching our students and staff to be open and honest will bring more conversations to the table.

Key Takeaways

Congratulations! You just learned how to create a supportive school environment. Follow the steps above to create a supportive and safe community.

I’ve given you all my best tips, tools, and techniques to help ensure your success. Just knowing them isn’t enough, though. It’s time to act and get the results you’ve been dreaming about! 

Click here to download the School Environment Assessment Checklist: Use this checklist to help school counselors assess the current state of their school environment, identifying areas that need improvement.