To support students, district and school leaders often pursue many efforts at once, from restorative practices and discipline reform to student engagement and belonging. When these initiatives run in parallel fashion rather than as a connected system, staff can lose sight of how the work fits together, and students can experience uneven support across schools.

This WestEd impact story follows Connecticut River Academy, part of the Goodwin University Educational Services district, where leaders used a school climate framework from a WestEd professional learning series to align these efforts. It shows how a shared framework can create coherence across initiatives, how integrating school climate and student outcome data into existing structures can strengthen collaboration and decision-making, and how professional learning that shifts adult beliefs and practice sustains change. The story offers district and school leaders, student support teams, and state and local education leaders a practical model for building coordinated, consistent support for students.