Knowing a student in your school is a military-connected student is the first step to offering support. You have heard military children are resilient. Resiliency doesn't come naturally - it is taught through the actions and words of those around us. For military children, resiliency is built by framing transitions as an experience to look forward to, by being honest about transitions, and by listening to and valuing a child's fears. It is important for adults in schools to be mindful of the impact they have on a child's resiliency.

The Military Times published an article titled "How Schools Can Help Military Children in and out of the Classroom." The article contains many valuable suggestions and links to videos. Please take a few moments to read the article and view the videos. It can be accessed here: Military Times: How Schools Can Help Military Children in and out of the Classroom

Here are some additional suggestions to help ensure a welcoming school and classroom.

1. Ask if families are connected to the military when they enroll. Make asking about military service part of your school's culture. Follow up with asking about which branch and whether the family is Reserve or has separated. Remember, a student whose parent is within one year of separation still falls under the Compact. Consider posting one of the informational one-pagers and printing out brochures for parents.

2. Focus on relationships. Take time to learn about where students have been and what their hopes are for their new location, and share what’s special about your school and community. Give military children opportunities to share where they’ve been and what they have experienced. Many military children have had amazing adventures — living abroad, completing monumental road trips, and experiencing the diverse communities of our nation and our world. Consider seating charts that allow military students to get to know new people without having to interject themselves into established peer groups. Try to avoid asking where they are from. This is the hardest question for a military child to answer. Instead, ask what their last location was.

3. Make routines obvious and expectations clear. Each school has it's own culture. Incoming military children have a new set of rules, procedures, teachers, and classrooms to learn. Consider creating welcome packets that contain expectations, maps, etc.

4. Look for academic gaps and help students find ways to close them. Attending a new school every 2-3 years puts students at risk for gaps in learning as curriculum pace varies from state to state and district to district. For example, School District A has students take US History in 12th grade and School District B has students take it in 11th grade. A military-connected student may leave School District A at the end of 11th grade (having not yet taken US History) and arrive in School District B where students have already taken the course. Additionally, access to AP, accelerated, GATE, and other special programs may be impacted. Pre-assessments, communicating with schools counselors, and following the Interstate Military Children's Compact are means to prepare military children for academic success.

5. Be understanding. Understand when a student is absent again due to a parent's deployment. Know that Reservists maintain a full-time job in addition to serving and will be leaving their family each month. Recognize changes in a student's behavior and/or academic progress as deployments and relocations approach.

6. Be inclusive. Like other demographic groups, military children want to see themselves represented in the books they are reading. Adding a military-themed books to classroom libraries is one way to include military culture. A book list can be found in the Resource section of the course.

Military-connected students also experience great joy when parents return home. You may have seen videos of parents surprising children. Take a minute to watch a recent tearful reunion.

What steps can your school take to welcome and support military-connected children and families?

Additional Resources