Current Environment:

Available TAP Trainings

To reach schools beyond Boston, TAP has developed a series of free online courses for educators and school communities everywhere.

TAP trainings are designed for all school staff, including teachers, specialists, school nurses, school administrators, guidance counselors, paraprofessionals, and support staff. All trainings feature interviews with educators and clinicians discussing how to overcome challenges, tips on implementing effective strategies in the classroom, and guidelines for connecting with caregivers and healthcare providers.

CEUs for social workers, psychologists, and nurses in the United States, as well as educators in Massachusetts, are available for courses listed below unless where noted.

Please click on each training for more information and to register. You will be prompted to register for OPENPediatrics before accessing free content. After this one-time registration, you will be able to access all our courses.

Strengthening Teams in Schools

This training includes key components, concepts, and concrete strategies for building and maintaining teams in schools to address social-emotional learning and behavioral health.

This training shares:

  • Ways in which trust contributes to a team’s work and strategies to build trust
  • Ideas for obtaining buy-in for a school-based team’s work
  • Information about roles and responsibilities of school-based team members
  • Factors that contribute to sustainability within a school-based team
  • How to incorporate adult social-emotional learning into school-based team meetings
Views of Resilience: What School Communities and Families Learned During the Pandemic

This podcast series includes three episodes and feature educators, students, and caregivers sharing the ways in which they have demonstrated strength and care for one in managing the impact of the pandemic on their experiences in school.

Episodes include:

  • Resilience and Self-Awareness Among Educators
  • The Role of School Environments in Fostering Resilience
  • Resilience and Families: The Role of Family Identity and School Communities
Understanding Anxiety in Schools: Sharing Strategies from Students, Families, and School Staff

This webinar originally aired in November 2021, and the recorded version is now available. Please note that CEUs are not available for this content.

This webinar included:

  • An overview of anxiety in youth, including common signs and symptoms and the role of culture
  • A roundtable with educators sharing strategies to support students coping with anxiety and steps they take to partner with families
  • Youth and families sharing their own experiences coping with anxiety
Understanding Trauma and the Impact on Learning Part 1: Definitions and Effects on the Brain

This training is the first in a three-part series focused on the impact of trauma. The series will discuss neurological factors, behavior, and learning, as well as supports that schools can provide to students who have experienced or witnessed a traumatic event. This training provides:

  • Definitions of trauma and traumatic events
  • Information on a study on adverse childhood events (ACEs)
  • Different types of stress and the stress response within the context of trauma
  • Foundational information about specific structures of the brain, how the brain can be impacted by trauma, and how that may affect a student’s learning and behavior
  • Protective factors and the role of schools in supporting students
Understanding Trauma and the Impact on Learning Part 2: Effect on Behavior, Learning, and Relationships

This training is the second in a three-part series focused on the impact of trauma. The series will discuss neurological factors, behavior, and learning, as well as supports that schools can provide to students who have experienced or witnessed a traumatic event. It discusses:

  • Behaviors students who have experienced trauma may present with and what these can look like in the classroom, using a strength-based lens
  • Changes to the brain as a result of trauma and its affect on learning and memory
  • How students who have experienced trauma may struggle with forming and maintaining relationships, and strategies for building connections
  • Supports, strategies, and resources that educators can provide to build students’ skills in school
Understanding Trauma and the Impact on Learning Part 3: Strategies for Supporting Students

This training is the third in a three-part series focused on the impact of trauma. The series will discuss neurological factors, behavior, and learning, as well as supports that schools can provide to students who have experienced or witnessed a traumatic event. This training discusses:

  • Key components when creating a trauma-informed school
  • Concrete and easily implementable strategies for supporting students who have experienced trauma
  • Ways to support strengthening relationships with both peers and adults at school
  • Ideas for partnering with families and caregivers through building connections that are authentic and culturally relevant
  • Strategies for building in self-care as a school-wide initiative
Managing Behavioral Health Crises in School

This training opens with definitions of behavioral health and behavioral health crisis. Beginning with prevention, it describes key components of developing a crisis protocol and why it is helpful to have a school-wide plan. It also provides:

  • Concrete strategies for supporting students during a behavioral health crisis
  • Ideas for partnering with caregivers using a strengths-based, culturally responsive approach
  • Considerations for when to refer for an emergency behavioral health evaluation and best practices when using emergency services
  • Ideas for facilitating communication between schools and providers
  • Tips and tools for planning a thoughtful transition plan for students returning to school after a crisis
An Introduction to Behavioral Health in Schools: Supports for Students

This training uses an ecological model that takes into account development, environment, and cultural considerations to help build a context for understanding student behavior. The training also provides:

  • Foundational information about behavioral health
  • An overview of some common behavioral health disorders
  • Positive behavioral supports for school communities
  • Strategies focused on prevention as well as building coping skills for students
  • An overview of therapeutic services that could be provided in schools or in the community, including considerations for how schools can support students, families, and caregivers find services and navigate the system
An Overview of Social Emotional Development: What Can We Expect in the Classroom?

This training includes foundational information about social, emotional, and behavioral health in schools and incorporates important concepts such as engaging families, cultural sensitivity, and the impact of social-emotional development in academics and learning. This training includes:

  • Reflections on how a child’s environments may impact their behavior and learning
  • Information about social-emotional skills when considering developmental age and stage
  • Definitions of the five key competencies of social-emotional learning and how to incorporate them into schools
  • Easy-to-implement strategies and activities to foster children’s healthy social-emotional development at school
Returning to School: Supporting Students, Educators, and School Communities

Free online workshops on social, emotional, and behavioral health for schools to support preparation for the school year following the impact of COVID-19. Please note that CEUs are not available for this training.