Welcome to the revised Safe and Supportive Schools Implementation Guide & Self-Reflection Tool. The goal of the self-reflection Tool is to catalyze a reflective and creative inquiry-based, year-long or multi-year process to create and enhance a school`s work to become more safe and supportive for the entire school community (including but not limited to: students, staff, families, and community partners). This tool is intended to assist with documenting current practices that support students` behavioral health ranging from the whole school community to individual students that require more intensive supports. It also examines the role of various school professionals and staff in providing these supports. This process enables schools to identify their most pressing local priorities and create action plans that can be incorporated into School Improvement Plans to address these priorities. It may be helpful to revisit your school`s responses to this tool on a regular (e.g., quarterly, annual) basis to review progress and continually work towards full implementation on a range of practices that address and remove the barriers to learning.

This tool was developed by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (Department), in consultation with the Safe and Supportive Schools Commission and others in the field, and will be updated periodically over time. The current version (on this site) was last updated in 2021, with assistance from the Blue Scope Group. We are very interested in and welcome your feedback too; please see this "https://www.doe.mass.edu/sfs/safety/community-vetting.html">feedback instructions page for more details.