P.S. 340: Getting to Know How Students are Feeling and Functioning

In our previous podcast, we heard from Turnaround for Children about how their Well-Being Index was designed and is meant to work. Today, we get hear the details – from the field – about how it works in action.

P.S. 340 is a K-5 school in the Bronx, NY. Frankly, it’s one of those incredible schools that goes well beyond reading, writing and arithmetic to help students learn and grow.

P.S. 340’s mission, stated clearly on its website, is to educate the whole child. To do that, the school offers an extraordinary range of programs not only to their students, but also to their families.

This year, P.S. 340 is working with Turnaround for Children on a new way to learn about and help their students. They’re using the Well-Being Index.

This series of questions helps children describe how they are feeling. By regularly taking these measurements over months, teachers can learn not only what their students might be facing on the inside, but also what they might do to help.

So how is it going? To find out, we talked with the school’s principal, Alexei Nichols, and fifth grade teacher Diana DaCorta. As you’ll hear, P.S. 340 is creating something that all schools – and parents – may want to learn from.

For more information, go to www.turnaroundusa.org/podcast.