The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted — and exacerbated — existing inequities in schools. While it will be some time before we understand the depths of the impact, school closures have severed access to critical services for many students, including the behavioral health care, reliable meals and supportive social networks that keep them healthy and on track for graduation. As with the pandemic itself, these losses have been disproportionately felt by Black, Latinx and Native students, students with disabilities and students who are low-income, homeless or LGBTQ.

Whether instruction is offered online or in-person, schools continue to play a key role in ensuring the emotional and behavioral needs of their students are met.

The following collections represent just a sample of the resources available to leaders and educators to help keep student well-being centered in distance, hybrid and in-person learning plans:

• CDC — COVID-19 Toolkit for K-12 Schools: Guidance and tools to help school administrators make decisions, protect their students and staff and communicate with their communities. Includes fact sheets, social media shareables, posters and planning documents, several of which are available in both English and Spanish.
• Learning for Justice — Supporting Students Through Coronavirus: A collection of resources developed by Learning for Justice to support student well-being and learning during school closures, including culturally responsive online learning, trauma-informed approaches to teaching and responding to racism during COVID.
• National Association of School Nurses — COVID-19 Reference: A library of evidence-based resources developed by NASN to assist school nurses in pandemic response planning and policy development. Topics include screening and testing, social and emotional health, considerations for students with chronic conditions and data collection.
• National Association of School Psychologists — COVID-19 Resource Center: Information, guidelines and resources on the return to school, special education and mental health designed to help support the learning and well-being of students, their families and others in the school community during the COVID crisis.
• National Center for School Mental Health — COVID-19 Resources: Resources and tips for school staff, administrators and parents centered on social emotional learning, the behavioral health impacts of COVID and well-being across the entire school community, as well as technological resources to support mental health promotion, intervention and treatment during distance learning.