School-Connect

Bridging Students, Educators and Schools

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Julea Douglass, School-Connect | Education Tech Insights | Top Evidence Based Curriculum and ToolsJulea Douglass, Executive Director
In many schools, educators are balancing academic instruction with the need to intentionally build student connection within limited time, fixed schedules, and existing MTSS structures. Advisory periods, seminars, intervention blocks, and small-group supports are increasingly asked to address attendance, motivation, behavior, and readiness for life beyond graduation. The challenge is not whether social and emotional support belongs in schools, but how to deliver it in structured, scalable ways that fit daily practice and produce measurable impact.

What is the challenge of integrating social and emotional support into schools?

School-Connect emerged from this classroom reality with a practical premise shaped by years of research and educator experience: structured connectedness and skill-building embedded into regular school routines serve as a foundation for student success. When students have consistent opportunities to reflect, communicate, build relationships, and develop skills essential to success within the school day, it supports attendance, motivation, goal-setting, healthier technology habits, and readiness for life after graduation. Rather than treating social and emotional development as a separate initiative, the program integrates scaffolded skill-building directly into instruction to strengthen learning and long-term outcomes.

Founded with a research-informed approach, School-Connect’s structured curriculum and tools help students build relationships and develop life skills through clearly sequenced lessons that educators can facilitate with minimal preparation. Its programs align with MTSS frameworks and support schools in addressing universal needs and targeted interventions. Each component is designed to be preventive and developmental, giving students structured time to reflect, communicate, and set direction before challenges escalate.

  • School-Connect is designed to give students structured time to reflect, build relationships, and develop skills they can carry with them long after graduation.


Flexibility is central to how it operates. School-Connect works with public, private, and charter schools of all sizes, adapting to a wide range of learning environments. Its curriculum can be implemented schoolwide through advisory periods or dedicated classes, while also supporting Tier 2 and Tier 3 interventions through small-group and one-on-one instruction. This allows schools to address attendance concerns, classroom disruption, academic motivation, trauma-informed needs, and support for students with IEPs or inconsistent attendance across tiers.

How does School-Connect’s curriculum cater to diverse learning environments?

The platform offers modules designed as a 10-lesson sequence, with pre-built slide decks, embedded videos, and interactive activities that culminate in a project-based learning and an assessment. Lessons are designed to fit existing class periods while reinforcing skill development and self-reflection. Knowledge Hub videos feature subject-matter experts who explain key concepts, while Teen Voices videos allow students to hear peers speak candidly about experiences they recognize from their own lives.

The curriculum also includes accommodations guides for students with IEPs or absences, family resources that extend learning beyond school, and teacher self-care lessons. Many lessons are grounded in brain science, helping students understand how habits, stress, goal-setting, and decision-making affect learning and motivation. Altogether, it offers hundreds of ready-to-use lessons and more than 250 original videos to support structured skill-building embedded into daily school practice, reducing preparation time while increasing engagement.

“School-Connect is designed to give students structured time to reflect, build relationships, and develop skills they can carry with them long after graduation,” says Julea Douglass, executive director.

What long-term benefits have schools seen from School-Connect’s approach?

The long-term value of that approach is reflected in student outcomes. Evaluation studies and teacher surveys show improvements in class climate, student behavior, academic performance, and teacher-student relationships. Among the thousands of students who have benefited from School-Connect lessons, one example is Benny, who used the program’s Mission Map lesson as a freshman to articulate long-term goals and break them into actionable steps. That planning structure guided his academic decisions over four years, strengthening persistence and time management and ultimately helping him enroll at Duke University. The same process is used across schools to help students translate aspirations into concrete plans.

Recognizing how quickly student life is changing, School-Connect is expanding focus to digital citizenship. A new module is now available to help students understand how digital habits affect attention, relationships, and decision-making, and how to use technology intentionally.

This evidence-based design and early intervention has earned School-Connect recognition as a Top Evidence-Based Curriculum and Tools solution provider. The award acknowledges a research-grounded model reinforced through measurable outcomes and preventive impact.

As student needs continue to evolve, School-Connect’s focus on structured skill-building embedded into school systems strengthens its role alongside educators, supporting both academic success and personal growth.

Deep Dive

Advancing Student Outcomes through Evidence-Based Curriculum and Tools

Secondary school leaders face a widening gap between academic expectations and student readiness. Attendance instability, disengagement, mental health strain and digital overuse are no longer peripheral concerns; they shape classroom climate and long-term achievement. Executives responsible for student support frameworks must balance accountability mandates with the realities of adolescent development, limited instructional time and stretched staff capacity. Evidence-based curriculum and tools have become central to that effort, yet not all solutions integrate seamlessly into the daily rhythm of a campus. Effective student development resources must extend beyond isolated lessons on character or study habits. They should reinforce multi-tiered systems of support, strengthen school connectedness and provide structured pathways for both universal instruction and targeted intervention. Leaders evaluating options should look for programs that operate across tiers without fragmenting schedules. A solution that works in freshman or senior seminars, advisory blocks and dedicated courses while also offering small group or one-on-one intervention guides signals adaptability to diverse campus models. Depth of engagement also distinguishes meaningful offerings from superficial add-ons. Research alignment is necessary, but it must translate into practical classroom execution. Teachers require ready-to-use materials that reduce preparation time while preserving instructional rigor. Embedded expert videos, peer storytelling and interactive exercises can increase student participation when they are purposefully sequenced within skill-building modules. Assessment components that measure growth before and after each module provide administrators with evidence of impact, particularly when paired with project-based culminations that require students to apply what they have learned. Relevance to contemporary student life is another differentiator. School climate, engagement and attendance are closely linked to students’ sense of belonging and future orientation. Structured goal-setting frameworks that guide students to map academic and career aspirations over multiple years help transform abstract ambitions into actionable plans. Alumni testimonials illustrating sustained goal pursuit underscore how early intervention can shape long-term trajectories. When such frameworks are reinforced annually, they cultivate time management, perseverance and clarity of purpose rather than offering a one-time motivational exercise. Digital citizenship has emerged as a pressing dimension of student development. Schools navigating device restrictions and AI-related academic integrity challenges need resources that address online behavior, messaging regret and technology balance in relatable formats. Graphic novel-style modules, student-led discussion videos and brain science explanations of tech overuse can create space for honest dialogue. Programs that encourage reflection, peer exchange and clear classroom guidelines support healthier digital habits without relying solely on punitive measures. School-Connect exemplifies these principles within a comprehensive student development platform. It delivers ten-lesson modules built around eight core skill sessions, a culminating project and pre- and post-assessments. Its content spans communication skills, academic motivation, relationship building, conflict resolution, mental health coping strategies, employability preparation and postsecondary planning. The platform integrates approximately 250 original videos featuring subject matter experts and teen voices, along with lesson boosters, accommodations guides for students with IEPs or attendance challenges and structured intervention resources for issues such as failing grades, substance use or behavioral disruption. It’s recently introduced digital citizenship module, designed in a graphic novel format, addresses online decision-making, AI-related cheating considerations and healthy technology balance through peer narratives and guided discussion. Teacher self-care lessons and family resources extend the impact beyond the classroom, reinforcing consistency across the school community. For executives evaluating evidence-based student development solutions, School-Connect stands out for its tiered flexibility, embedded research translation and contemporary relevance. It offers a structured yet adaptable framework that supports climate improvement, academic readiness and long-term goal attainment within the realities of secondary education. ...Read more
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Company
School-Connect

Management
Julea Douglass, Executive Director

Description
School-Connect is an evidence-based education company that helps middle and high schools strengthen student engagement, attendance, and long-term outcomes. Its curriculum and tools integrate social, emotional, and life skills into daily school routines, supporting both universal instruction and targeted student interventions.