Harvard’s Making Caring Common Launches National School Campaign to Help Young People Bridge Divides, Build Stronger Communities

Caring Schools #CommonGood campaign mobilizes schools nationwide to take action to mend country’s fractures and strengthen democracy

Cambridge, MA - Harvard’s Making Caring Common project today launched a national campaign to mobilize high schools and middle schools to prepare young people to be constructive community members and citizens who create a better world. The Caring Schools #CommonGood campaign aims to motivate schools to take action to help mend our country’s fractures and strengthen democracy.

“Our country is at a crossroads,” said Dr. Richard Weissbourd, Senior Lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and Faculty Director of the Making Caring Common project. “We need to mobilize the great strengths of Americans to restore the ties that bind us and to prepare young people to build strong, inclusive communities and to protect democracy. This work has perhaps never been more important.”

The campaign seeks to advance the following specific goals:

Deepen students’ care for others and their communities;
Increase equity and access for all students in the college admissions process; and
Reduce excessive achievement pressure in communities where it is detrimental to students.

These goals align with and build on Making Caring Common’s successful Turning the Tide initiative that has engaged more than 175 college admissions offices nationwide.

To join the campaign, schools commit to taking new substantial, meaningful action to advance one or more of the campaign’s goals and to engage in a self-assessment or evaluation process to measure the impact of their action(s). Schools may choose from a menu of actions developed by Making Caring Common or may choose their own actions to advance the campaign’s goals. Once schools choose their new action(s), Making Caring Common will either provide resources to these “leader” schools or link them to resources as they implement new actions. Schools that commit to, implement, and evaluate the impact of their efforts will earn a special designation from Making Caring Common.

More than 130 schools have already joined the campaign as “early leaders” who have helped to inform, shape, and build momentum for the campaign. Early leader schools are taking to Facebook and Twitter today to express their support for the campaign, publicly commit to their chosen action(s), and encourage schools nationwide to join the effort.

“Our collective efforts with the Making Caring Common initiative are vital in promoting authentic civic engagement with our school communities,” said Michael Roe, principal at Riverside Polytechnic High School. “We are living in dynamic times where polarizing issues continue to divide us. The need for us to provide the foundation for civic knowledge, advocacy, and action is essential for the vitality of our schools, localities, and nation. How we treat one another and promote humility – the idea that all of us has a story and each is as important as the next – creates the beginning point for empathy, caring, and moral courage.”

“At St. Andrew's we are excited to join the campaign to continue to focus our efforts on the important work of creating and sustaining an inclusive environment for our students and our school community,” said Ginger Cobb, Head of Upper School at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School. “Cognition and emotional intelligence are key skills to develop in students through dynamic character education programs that will help them to navigate their world today.”

As part of the launch, new schools interested in joining the campaign are encouraged to post a photo of members of their community in front of their school along with the Caring Schools #CommonGood hashtag on March 6.

More information about how schools, parents, and students can join the campaign can be found at commongoodcampaign.makingcaringcommon.org.

CARING SCHOOLS #COMMONGOOD EARLY LEADERS

United States
Bedford High School
Boston Latin School
British International School of Boston
Bucks County Technical High School
Carrollwood Day School
Making Caring Common | Caring Schools #CommonGood campaign
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Castilleja School
Catlin Gabel School
CATS Academy Boston
CHAMPS Charter High School Of The Arts
Chapel Hill-Chauncy Hall
Clara Barton High School for Health Professions
Clear Lake High School
Columbia Independent School
Columbus School for Girls
Community School of Naples
Comstock STEM Academy
Dana Hall School
Darlington School
Dedham Country Day School
Democracy Prep Public Schools
Design Tech High School
Dr. TJ Owens Gilroy Early College Academy
Fairmont Area Schools
Fortuna Middle School
Frederick Douglass Academy II
Governor’s Academy
Greenhill School
Hair University
Hawken School
Hopkins School
John Glenn Middle School
John J Cairns School
Jurupa Hills High School
Kealing Middle School
Kent School
KIPP Washington DC
Knowledge Academies
Laguna Blanca School
Math and Science College Preparatory
Medford High School
Middlesex School
Millennium High Alternative
Milton Academy
Miss Porter's School
Monson High School
Montessori Habitat School
Montville Township Public Schools
Mount Madonna School
Murchison Middle School
Making Caring Common | Caring Schools #CommonGood campaign
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Natomas Pacific Pathways Prep
New Albany Floyd County Schools
Newton North
Noble and Greenough School
Odyssey Leadership Academy
Olentangy Liberty High School
Orange Lutheran High School
Oregon Episcopal School
Palmer Trinity School
Performing Arts Community School at Diego Rivera Learning Complex
Phillips Academy Andover
Raleigh Charter High School
Ramona Convent Secondary School
REF Foundation
Riverdale Country School
Riverside Poly High School
Rocklin High School
Rocky Hill School
Round Rock High School
Rubidoux High School
Saint Stephen's Episcopal School
San Domenico School
San Francisco University High School
Sandia Preparatory School
Sanford H. Calhoun High School
Santa Margarita Catholic High School
Santa Paula High School
Saxe Middle School
School of the Holy Child
Shady Side Academy
Shulamith High School for Girls
Silver Oak High School
South Burlington High School
Spicewood Park Elementary
Spring Valley High School
St. Andrew's Episcopal School
St. Andrew's-Sewanee School
St. Anne's Episcopal School
St. Luke's School
St. Mark's School
St. Mary's School
Stony Point Academy
The Agnes Irwin School
The Blake School
The Branson School
The Brearley School
The Browning School
The Cambridge School of Weston
The Covenant School
The Derryfield School
The Hewitt School
The John Cooper School
The Prairie School
The Rivers School
The Seven Hills School
The Tatnall School
The Wheeler School
Tremont School
Trinity School
University Liggett School
University Preparatory Academy
Ursuline Academy
Veritas Academy
Watershed School
Wayland Academy
Wellesley High School
West Bloomfield High School
Windsor Oaks Academy
Winston Preparatory School
Woodlands Middle School
Woodlawn School
Wyoming High School
York School
Yorktown High School

International
Apata Memorial High school
Beijing No.35 High School
Chiang Kai Shek College
Chinese International School Manila
Colegio Hacienda Los Alcaparros
ELC High School
Elim English Language School
Kolej Tuanku Ja'afar
Mir Znanye
Nepal Police School
Pinewood - The American International School of Thessaloniki
Shanghai Qibao Dwight High School
Making Caring Common | Caring Schools #CommonGood campaign
commongoodcampaign.makingcaringcommon.org
Shanghai United International School - Gubei Campus
St Mary's Catholic College
St. George's School of Montreal
Suffah Academy
Taejeon Christian International School
Titiksha Public School
Washington International School

An up-to-date list of early leader schools can be found on the campaign website at commongoodcampaign.makingcaringcommon.org.

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About Making Caring Common
Making Caring Common (MCC), a project of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, helps educators, parents, and communities raise children who are caring, responsible to their communities, and committed to justice.

Web: www.makingcaringcommon.org
Facebook: Making Caring Common
Twitter: @MCCHarvardEd