This presentation will provide an overview of recent data from the Racial and Ethnic Disparities committees in Hartford, Bridgeport, Waterbury, New Haven, and Hamden. We will highlight racial and ethnic disparities in school-based discipline, arrest rates, and CT's detention/incarceration systems. Participants will gain awareness of the collaborations that are happening between police, schools, DCF, and community providers to address these disparities, and to facilitate reflection on what contributes to the school-to-prison pipeline. Additionally, we will share highlights from our work inside Manson Youth Institution, the prison where young people are incarcerated when their criminal legal cases are transferred to the adult court system. Our work at MYI is two-fold: we inform youth about their legal rights while working on conditions of confinement issues. Our presentation will include opportunities for participants to reflect and discuss their perspectives based on their roles, whether they are school leaders, educators, students, and/or community members.

School improvement efforts often focus on policies and initiatives while overlooking how everyday routines and communication patterns shape whose voices influence decisions. This interactive session invites educators and community leaders to examine how professional norms intended to preserve harmony can unintentionally silence educators of color and limit advocacy for students from historically marginalized communities, including Black and Brown students, multilingual learners, and students with disabilities. Through a combination of contemplative dialogue, World Café conversations, visual systems mapping, and future-focused design activities, participants will surface hidden assumptions embedded in school culture and reimagine structures that center voice, belonging, and shared responsibility. Attendees will leave with practical tools for redesigning meetings, strengthening listening practices, and creating conditions that support more racially just and empowering school environments.

This interactive session explores what it means to be anti-racist and how anti-racist practices directly support student success. Participants will examine the impact of racism and bias on learning while engaging in self-reflection to better understand their own beliefs and experiences. Through creative activities such as self-portrait drawing and facilitated group discussions, participants will build awareness of identity, empathy, and cultural differences. The session emphasizes the importance of relationship-building, cultural awareness, and reflective practice particularly for educators to create inclusive learning environments where all students can thrive. Participants will leave with practical insights and strategies to support anti-racist practices and contribute to a more equitable educational experience for future generations.

What does it look like to create schools where every student feels safe, valued, and connected? This session explores decolonizing education as a pathway to disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline and build inclusive, welcoming school communities. Designed for educators, families, administrators, and policymakers, the session centers student voice and lived experience while connecting to familiar Connecticut frameworks such as PBIS, MTSS, and restorative practices. Participants will reflect on how school climate, discipline, and support systems can unintentionally harm Black, Brown, multilingual, and disabled students—and how they can be transformed. Through discussion and practical tools, participants will leave with strategies to strengthen belonging, improve family engagement, and support an empowered future for all students.

This session shares insights from the Legacy Foundation of Hartford, a nonprofit providing afterschool and Saturday academic programming taught by certified teachers. Panelists will highlight their work with Open Choice scholars, who live in one community while attending school in another, to discuss the relationship between positive racial identity and academic success. Teachers will discuss culturally responsive pedagogy and critical literacy practices that value students' cultural knowledge and identity. Past and current Legacy scholars will share their experiences and work, offering student perspectives on the program's impact. The session concludes with an interactive activity, guiding participants to create personal narratives grounded in racial literacy. Ultimately, the presentation will provide an opportunity to explore how one's teaching methodology can play a role in the cycle of liberation, building more just worlds in service of the brilliance, ingenuity, and desires of all youth, but especially those who have been historically overlooked.

This presentation examines the disproportionate impact of school exclusion on students of color and students with disabilities, exploring how implicit bias shapes perceptions, decisions, and outcomes in educational settings. Participants will gain insight into the systemic forces that limit opportunities for student success and affect academic, social-emotional, and relational development. The session emphasizes reflection, perspective-shifting, and transformative approaches to challenge assumptions, promote equity, and empowerment. Attendees will leave with practical, reflection-based strategies and a renewed commitment to fostering inclusive, empowering schools where all students and families are supported to thrive and fully participate in an equitable educational journey.

This hands-on session explores how emotion regulation can be a powerful engine for belonging in early childhood communities. Drawing on RULER and anti-bias, anti-racist practices, presenters will share how intentional relationships, reflective dialogue, and structural supports help educators, families, and children feel safe, seen, and valued. Participants will experience facilitated reflection, co-create a community charter, analyze a picture book through an equity lens, and practice real-world scenarios that model co-regulation with children and colleagues. The session highlights practical tools, including monthly educator check-ins, collaborative growth plans, classroom emotional support, and family partnerships that attendees can implement immediately. Participants will leave with concrete strategies to build trust, strengthen emotional skills, and cultivate inclusive communities where everyone belongs.

Student attendance is not solely a compliance issue; it is a reflection of trust, connection, and coordinated support. At Waterbury Bridge to Success (BTS), we have learned that when families feel seen, valued, and supported, student attendance improves. Grounded in the BOOST! Community School framework, this workshop explores how relationship-based family engagement strategies aligned with NAEYC principles and IEL's Community School approach can be leveraged to address chronic absenteeism. Through interactive discussion and practical examples from BTS community schools, this session will highlight how intentional family engagement, data-informed practices, and positive reinforcement can lead to meaningful improvements in student attendance and overall school climate.

By the conclusion of this presentation, participants will develop a shared understanding of systemic racism and how unchecked bias operates within educational and healthcare systems. Students and educators will be able to identify examples of implicit bias in classroom practices, institutional policies, and future professional settings. Participants will engage in guided self-reflection to examine how personal assumptions and social conditioning influence decision-making and interactions with Black and Brown girls and communities. Attendees will leave with practical strategies to interrupt bias, promote inclusive learning environments, and support equitable outcomes. Ultimately, the presentation aims to foster increased awareness, accountability, and commitment to creating emotionally safe, inclusive, and equitable spaces across education and healthcare.

High school students experience the impact of systems, identity, and culture in their schools every day, yet they are not always given space to talk about it openly. This interactive session invites students into an engaging and honest conversation about identity, power, and systemic racism in schools and society.

Through reflection activities, dialogue, and real-world scenarios, students will explore how systems shape experiences of belonging and opportunity. The session centers student voice and encourages participants to share perspectives, listen across differences, and think critically about how they can contribute to more inclusive communities.

Students will leave with a deeper understanding of themselves, greater empathy for others, and practical ways to use their voices to promote equity, challenge bias, and help build school environments where everyone feels valued and respected.