Your Morning Boost - 🚨 Crisis in the Classroom: How to Be the Stability Our Homeless Students Need 🏠

The rise in K-12 student homelessness is alarming, and school leaders cannot afford to wait. In this urgent episode of Your Morning Boost, we dive into the necessity of implementing strategic measures to support our most vulnerable learners. Your school can be the primary source of stability and equity they desperately need. We explain the critical components of the McKinney-Vento Act and why every staff member must be trained to identify signs of housing instability with dignity and respect.   Key Takeaways You'll Get:

• Proactive Identification: The vital role of training all school staff to recognize and respond to housing instability.  
• Community Power: How to build essential partnerships to provide continuity of services and support beyond the school walls.  
• Academic Success: Why investing in a student's stability is a direct investment in their academic performance and future.  

We cannot wait for stability to come to them—we must deliver it. Listen now to get the blueprint for effective, compassionate support and ensure no student's education is lost to housing instability. Reference Article: This discussion is informed by the growing crisis detailed here: https://www.the74million.org/1-3-million-homeless-students-new-federal-data-show-a-70-percent-jump-in-k-12-homelessness-over-past-decade-with-big-implications-for-academic-performance/ Find out more about what we do: AWB Education - awbeducation.org Grundmeyer Leader Services - grundmeyerleadersearch.com Got a mailbag question?  Reach out to us at [e-mail]

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This episode includes AI-generated content.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to your Morning Boost, brought to you by AWB Education.
Here we amplify knowledge, widen reach, and broaden impact in education,
delivering your daily dose of professional development. This program is
sponsored by Grundmeyer Leader Services, where together we are transforming education,
one leader at a time. Now get ready to amplify

(00:25):
your day with your Morning Boost.

Speaker 2 (00:31):
Welcome back to your Morning Boost, and a happy Tuesday
to all of you. Today, we are tackling a complex
and heart wrenching issue that deeply impacts our students in
their academic journey, and that is this rising crisis of
K twelve student homelessness. As your partner in this challenging work,
I know that this is an urgent conversation for every
school leader. New federal data is reported by the seventy

(00:54):
four Million shows US startling seventy percent jump in K
twelve homelessness over the past decade, and the implications for
student well being and academic performance are immense. So let's
talk about a few strategic moves that we can implement
immediately to better identify and support these vulnerable learners, ensuring

(01:14):
our school is truly a reliable beacon of stability for
every student. When I look at the data one point
three million homeless students nationwide. It is truly sobering, but
it fuels my drive to make sure we are proactively

(01:35):
implementing the McKenny Ventoact. This is absolutely essential for all
of us, and the first critical step we must take
together is to streamline our identification process. This goes beyond
the guidance counselor. We need to train all staff, from
bus drivers to cafeteria workers to office assistance, to our principles.

(01:57):
Everyone needs to be able to recognize the subtle signs
of housing instability. Oftentimes, a student's sudden reluctance to attend
school events or a chronic lack of basic school supplies
are indicators that our core administrative team are going to miss.
Working alongside this essential identification process, we also must forge strong,

(02:19):
formalized partnerships with local community resource organizations. These can be
our helmless shelters or food banks, churches. All of these
groups are going to be vital in providing the support
that our students need to succeed. This creates a tangible
safety net of non academic support that extends far beyond
the school day. I just love the story of Miss

(02:42):
Evelyn's pantry. It started as a small supply closet in
a high school, and it grew into a community hub,
providing consistent, discrete support for families experiencing housing insecurity. It
truly shows the power of a single, coordinated effort, as
the seventy four million report highlights, when students lack a
stable place to sleep, their focus, attendance, and overall academic

(03:06):
performance are inevitably compromised. Because that support is so crucial
to academic success, we must ensure continuity of services, and
we can do this by assigning a dedicated, highly trained
point person. It's going to be your McKinney vntal liaison.
This person is there to shepherd these students through enrollment,

(03:26):
transportation and counseling services, minimizing disruption during the times of
family transition. And here's the key. This entire process of
delivery must be conducted with the utmost discretion and dignity,
ensuring the services we provide empower the family without adding
to the shame or stigma that housing instability often carries.

(03:56):
To conclude today's essential boost, hold on to this foundational
our school is a primary source of stability and equity
For students experiencing homelessness, we cannot wait for stability to
come to them. We must proactively design systems through compassionate identification,
community connections, and dedicated liaisons. All of these will help

(04:20):
deliver stability to their lives. This work is a direct
investment in academic achievement, reminding us that the stability you
provide in your building, even on a challenging Tuesday, is
the most powerful piece of educational equity a vulnerable student
will receive all week. Thanks for listening, Thank you for

(04:40):
taking on those challenging Tuesdays, and I hope today is
a great one. We'll be back again as we talk
with you again tomorrow on your Morning Boost. So thanks
for listening. We will talk with you again tomorrow.

Speaker 1 (04:54):
That concludes another episode of your Morning Boost. We hope
today's daily dose of professional development. It helps you amplify knowledge,
widen reach, and broaden impact. Your Morning Boost is an
AWB Education production brought to you with the generous support
of Grundmeier Leader Services. Join us again tomorrow for more.

(05:14):
Until then, keep boosting your impact