Together for Students Initiative

In Chicago, the Together for Students Initiative brings together three organizations – Communities In Schools of Chicago, Chicago Public Schools, and Thrive Chicago. This partnership works on creating a professional development model for integrating social-emotional learning, both inside and outside the classroom, and convenes a social-emotional learning community to co-design, test, and scale different SEL strategies.

In the 2019-20 school year, Together for Students supported the social-emotional learning of close to 40,000 youth and provided professional development and resources in 42 schools across 28 neighborhoods. Before COVID-19, Together for Students convened and participated in in-person panel sessions and trainings, and once the stay-at-home order was in place, the initiative shifted to hosting virtual trainings and offering online resources, like e-newsletters and digital resource lists.

As students and educators continue to adjust to the demands of remote learning, we remain committed to prioritizing social and emotional learning across our community. Modeling, reinforcing, and teaching these skills is critical as we continue to operate in these nonconventional times.

– Adenia Linker, Together for Students Project Manager