Reframing Trauma in the Classroom Summer Series

Training that empowers early child educators to create thriving classrooms in Philly.

Build Safer, Stronger Classrooms This Summer with Trauma-Aware Strategies brought to you by PHL preK & SPARK

Trainings are available July 13 - August 14

Featuring Learning Pathways Designed for Public Philadelphia Early Education Providers

This summer, join us for Interactive live and virtual training sessions that will help educators create supportive, emotionally responsive classrooms for young children. You know your classroom best, so participants can tailor learning pathways to focus on what matters most for their growth and their students’ success.

This training is ideal for:

New Teachers
Experienced Teachers
Center Directors
Early Childhood Education Staff
Philadelphia PreK Providers

Participants Receive:

Professional Development Credit
Stipends Available
Practical Classroom Strategies
Ongoing Professional Growth

ADDRESSING CHALLENGING BEHAVIORS:

Using Positive Behavior Supports and Trauma Awareness to Support Preschoolers

ADDRESSING CHALLENGING BEHAVIORS:

Using Positive Behavior Supports and Trauma Awareness to Support Preschoolers

Learning Pathways

Understanding Trauma Learning Pathway

The Understanding Trauma learning pathway helps early childhood educators understand how trauma and adverse experiences can shape young children’s behavior, relationships, learning, and sense of safety. Rather than viewing challenging behaviors in isolation, participants will learn to reframe behavior through a trauma-informed lens and recognize what children may be communicating through their actions.

This pathway explores how stress and adversity affect brain development, emotional regulation, attachment, and classroom participation, while offering practical strategies for creating safe, supportive learning environments. Educators will learn ways to strengthen relationships, respond to challenging behaviors with empathy and consistency, support transitions and regulation, and build classroom cultures where children feel secure, connected, and ready to learn.

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Creating Safe Spaces Learning Pathway

The Creating Safe Spaces learning pathway helps early childhood educators design classroom environments where young children feel secure, welcomed, and ready to participate. Participants will explore how physical spaces, daily routines, transitions, sensory supports, and adult-child interactions all contribute to a child’s sense of emotional safety and belonging.

This pathway offers practical strategies for creating calm, predictable, and responsive learning environments that support children’s regulation, connection, and confidence. Educators will learn how to use welcoming routines, supportive transitions, calming spaces, sensory-informed practices, and relationship-based approaches to build classrooms where children, staff, and families feel safe, supported, and able to thrive.

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Responsive Interventions Learning Pathway

The Responsive Interventions learning pathway helps early childhood educators respond to challenging behaviors with strategies that are supportive, developmentally appropriate, and grounded in relationships. Participants will explore how behavior can communicate unmet needs, stress, frustration, or difficulty with regulation, and will learn how to respond in ways that promote safety, connection, and growth.

This pathway offers practical tools for preventing, understanding, and responding to challenging behaviors while strengthening children’s social-emotional skills. Educators will learn how to use positive behavior supports, targeted interventions, calming strategies, sensory-informed responses, and consistent classroom practices to help children build regulation, resilience, and confidence.

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Course Types

Children learn best when they feel safe, supported, and connected. These trainings equip educators with tools to create nurturing classrooms that promote emotional well-being and long-term success.

Understanding Trauma

Responsive Interventions

Creating Safe Spaces

Our Partners

Click the logos to learn more about our 2026 Providers and their training sessions.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to pay for the trainings?

No! All of the trainings are free for publicly funded preschool educators (teachers that work in Head Start, Head Start Supplemental, PreK Counts or PHLpreK programs).

How do I register?

Select and sign up for the trainings that you are interested in. To accommodate as many educators as possible, please only sign up for one day/time slot per training. You will receive an email confirmation and Zoom link for the training.

Can I earn PQAS credit?

Yes! Each training description includes information about PQAS/Act 48 eligibility.

Are training stipends available?

Yes! Stipends may be available to eligible teachers that attend and complete trainings. More information will be provided at a later date.

UNDERSTANDING TRAUMA

Trainings Facilitated by SPARK Quality Support Center & Lakeside

Trainings Facilitated by Lakeside Global Institute

Trainings Facilitated by First Up

Participants will explore how our brain’s mental structures are shaped by the connections between our environments and our relationships. The metaphor of architecture suggests that just as buildings are designed and influenced by external factors, our minds are similarly "constructed" over time through experiences, interactions, and surroundings.

Participants will identify different types of trauma, stress and adversity and look at the
correlation and impact these both positive and negative experiences have on the brains and therefore on our behaviors. This workshop has two key elements; environmental influences and relation dynamics and both have a direct imprint on how our brains form.

August 13, 2026: 12:00 PM-2:00 PM - Click Here to Register

Trainings Facilitated by The Lourie Center for Children's Social & Emotional Wellness

This training focuses on equipping preschool teachers with practical, relationship-based strategies to support young children experiencing adversity, with a particular emphasis on the intentional use of books to promote emotional understanding and resilience, bibliotherapy.

By using carefully selected children’s books, educators can create safe opportunities for children to explore feelings, experiences, and challenges. Stories allow children to see themselves reflected in characters and situations, helping them process difficult emotions in a supportive and non-threatening way.

Bibliotherapy offers an accessible, everyday practice that allows teachers to nurture emotional well-being, foster connection, and support children in making sense of their experiences. Even small, intentional moments, such as reading a story together, can have a lasting impact on a child’s sense of safety and ability to thrive.

July 24, 2026: 10:00 AM-12:00 PM - Click Here to Register

August 11, 2026: 9:00 AM-12:00 PM - Click Here to Register

The beginning and the end of the school year are key milestones for preschoolers, their parents, caregivers, and educators. Unlike timed predictable milestones, adversity and trauma show up in preschool classrooms across the country and throughout all seasons, often without warning.

This session will highlight the roles of adversity and trauma in children’s developing ability to regulate their emotions leading to dysregulated, “disruptive” behaviors. Participants will learn how these barriers to early childhood learning impact the development of new teacher-students relationships and the key role of separations throughout the school year. Learning will be grounded in understanding the significant emotional weight that a school day, specifically the opening and closing of the day, can carry as they offer critical opportunities to reinforce safety, build connection, and provide consistency.

Classroom strategies will be presented along with classroom activities that support welcoming hellos and warm-hearted goodbyes throughout the school year, and especially for the welcoming to the classroom all the way through graduation goodbyes.

July 30, 2026: 10:00 AM-12:00 PM - Click Here to Register

August 11, 2026: 1:00 PM-4:00 PM - Click Here to Register

Emotions present themselves in the body long before children have words to express what they are feeling. Likewise, trauma impacts and can live in the body long after an adverse experience has occurred. Senses, however, allow children and adults to experience the world regardless of language. They activate the central nervous system to allow for resets, calming, and even excitement and upregulation.

This session will help early childhood educators dive into the world from a sensory perspective by identifying the importance of sensory integration into early childhood learning environments to make them trauma-informed settings. Educators will learn how to use sensory activities to enhance cognitive and socioemotional development well beyond the traditional five senses.

Participants will engage in first-hand sensory experiences that they can immediately apply in their lives and classrooms, while leaving with a resource back of sensory integration strategies.

August 5, 2026: 1:00 PM-3:00 PM - Click Here to Register

August 12, 2026: 9:00 AM-12:00 PM - Click Here to Register

Educators and school communities are facing a growing early childhood trauma crisis that has been negatively impacting children, early childhood educators, classroom support staff, and administrators alike. Programs are struggling to retain early childhood professions despite their passion and commitment to young children as burnout rates are ever-growing.

Children and adults are attempting to navigate this terrain as students try their best to communicate their needs through behavior, while educators strive to help their learners with emotion regulation sometimes without having the knowledgebase of how trauma influences human development.

This session introduces the fundamentals of trauma and Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), exploring how they influence behavior, learning, and relationships in the classroom. Participants will learn how trauma is defined, known preventative measures to protect children from the impact of trauma, and an introduction to research regarding the significance of student-teacher relationships.

July 10, 2026: 9:00 AM-11:00 AM

July 22, 2026: 1:30 AM-3:30 PM - Click Here to Register

This training explores what trauma looks like in preschool and how traumatic expression can be triggered in the classroom, even with a smile.

This session highlights how developmental science provides pathways to developing resilience in young children by creating classroom and school environments rich with psychological protective factors through utilizing an attachment framework. The presenter(s) will reinforce the central role that the student-teacher relationship holds in healing and learning.

Participants will learn to recognize the subtle presentations of trauma and common catalysts for trauma reactions in educational settings. Grounded in an attachment-based, developmental framework, the session also highlights the critical role of strong student–teacher relationships as a key pathway to resilience.

This session will also provide classroom strategies for responding to trauma, focusing on self and team-care, that have been field-tested in classroom settings serving early learners with intense emotional needs. The role of reflection and the rupture-repair model of relationships will be highlighted. Participants will learn to recognize the subtle presentations of trauma and common catalysts for trauma reactions in educational settings.

July 14, 2026: 1:00 PM-3:00 PM

July 29, 2026: 10:00 AM-12:00 PM - Click Here to Register

This presentation will showcase the first national Trauma-Informed Preschool Supports (TIPS) ECHO program, a virtual community of practice designed to increase evidence-based best practices in trauma-informed care for children ages birth to five.

As the first of its kind, TIPS combines an evidence-based Therapeutic Preschool model with the nationally recognized best-practice teleconsultation model (ECHO), which is used around the world for professional development in the fields of medicine and education by democratizing knowledge from concentrated expertise and training participants in their workplace.

TIPS ECHO brings together cohorts of early childhood educators with a therapeutic preschool program's multidisciplinary, education and mental health team for a 12 to 15-week collaborative learning experience rooted in the “All Teach, All Learn” spirit of community where everyone contributes to one another’s growth and learning. The TIPS ECHO format highlights a case-based (e.g., child, family, classroom, staff), virtual community of practice allowing participants to receive direct instruction, mentoring, and opportunities for reflection from both specialists and peers.

Through engagement with the TIPS community of practice, teachers get the opportunity to enhance their ability to provide secure base experiences, as seen in increased empathy, reduction of unsupportive-minimizing responses to student distress, and expanding emotionally supportive interaction.

August 7, 2026: 9:00 AM-11:00 AM - Click Here to Register

August 12, 2026: 1:00 PM-4:00 PM - Click Here to Register

RESPONSIVE INTERVENTION

Trainings Facilitated by Dr. Ashlee Brown, Assistant Professor at West Chester University

Trainings Facilitated by First Up

Participants will explore how developing executive function and self-regulation skills in childhood can create pathways to improved outcomes in adulthood. These cognitive processes play an essential role in daily life and long-term success, enabling individuals to control impulses, manage emotions, plan ahead, and achieve goals. These abilities are essential for academic achievement, social relationships, mental health, and general well-being. They enable individuals to think critically, solve problems, set and achieve goals, and regulate emotions effectively. Participants will compare and contrast strategies that establishing strong executive function and self-regulation in childhood lead to better academic performance, social skills, and emotional well-being.

August 17, 2026: 11:00 AM-1:00 PM - Click Here to Register

Participants will explore the different parts of the brain and identify the different parts and their functions. The development of the brain follows a hierarchical, "bottom-up" process, where fundamental structures and systems form first, providing a foundation for more complex cognitive and behavioral abilities later in life. This bottom-up development is crucial to understanding how early experiences shape brain architecture and influence lifelong health, learning, and behavior. The participants will be able to explore the different parts of the brain with activities that give them an opportunity to see the parts of their brain they’re using and look at the functions of the brains systems.

August 13, 2026: 9:30 AM-11:30 PM - Click Here to Register

Trainings Facilitated by Lakeshore Professional Development

In this session, we will dive into the “How to Train Your Amygdala” calming kit to learn how to utilize these fun, hands-on materials.

Using Anna Housley Juster’s children’s book, How to Train Your Amygdala, we will learn how to support children’s social-emotional growth and mindfulness skills. By utilizing the kit’s activity card and developmentally appropriate hands-on materials, you will practice strategies to help children understand their bodies, practice impulse control, and boost self-regulation.

August 13, 2026: 12:30 PM–2:30 PM - Click Here to Register

August 13, 2026: 6:00 PM–8:00 PM - Click Here to Register

In this session, we will dive into tier 1 of the Pyramid Model to gain a better understanding of how to set children up for success. We will begin by discussing the importance of developing nurturing and responsive relationships with each child because safe, secure relationships are the foundation of learning.

We will then explore the components of a high-quality supportive environment. We will take the time to evaluate ourenvironment, identify “hot spots”, and plan for enhancements.

September 1, 2026: 12:30 PM–2:30 PM - Click Here to Register

September 1, 2026: 6:00 PM–8:00 PM - Click Here to Register

In this session, we will dive into tier 2 of the Pyramid Model to learn how to proactively model, teach, and reteach developmentally appropriate social-emotional skills including self-regulation. We will work collaboratively to plan activities that promote social and emotional competence in children throughout the day.

July 16, 2026: 12:30 PM–2:30 PM - Click Here to Register

July 16, 2026: 6:00 PM–8:00 PM - Click Here to Register

In this session, we will now dive into the third tier of the Pyramid Model to gain a better understanding of challenging behaviors. We will discuss how to provide intensive intervention for children exhibiting challenging behaviors and gain an understanding of why some children use challenging behaviors to express their wants and needs. We will practice identifying the trigger, form, and function to help the child be more successful within the environment.

July 23, 2026: 12:30 PM–2:30 PM - Click Here to Register

July 23, 2026: 6:00 PM–8:00 PM - Click Here to Register

In early childhood and beyond, children depend on the use of their senses to navigate their environment, make connections, and solidify information in a comprehensible manner. In this session, we will explore sensory processing concepts and strategies to create safe exploration opportunities for children.

July 16, 2026: 12:30 PM–2:30 PM - Click Here to Register

July 16, 2026: 6:00 PM–8:00 PM - Click Here to Register

We all have differing experiences which have shaped our view of the world. In this session, we will take some time to look at our personal experiences and how they may affect our point of view, our relationships, and interactions with our staff. During this session, we will engage in activities that require self-reflection regarding our own behaviors and point of view. We will learn to look at situations through a new lens, so that we can be an effective leader.

September 3, 2026: 12:30 PM–2:30 PM - Click Here to Register

September 3, 2026: 6:00 PM–8:00 PM - Click Here to Register

Trainings Facilitated by SPARK QSC

Defiant behaviors are common for preschool classrooms. It can be frustrating to engage and redirect young learners in the midst of their defiance, and this training is designed to support programs with techniques and information to best reduce defiant behaviors in the classroom.

This training will also help providers to recontextualize their children’s defiance in a greater context surrounding developmental milestones and trauma.

For Teachers, Administrators: PQAS 2 Hours C2, PSA 4b & 4c

July 22, 2026: 1:00 PM-3:00 PM - Click Here to Register

In this training, participants will learn about 5 social emotional factors that influence behavior. Participants will come away with practical strategies to address behavior based on a tiered approach. Strategies may be applied classroom-wide, to small groups, or to individual children to address all learners' social emotional needs.

PSA 1: Child Development and Learning in Context

PSA 7: Health and Safety Targeted Audience: Teachers, Directors, Administrators, Owners

August 26, 2026: 1:00 PM-3:00 PM - Click Here to Register

CREATING SAFE SPACES

Trainings Facilitated by First Up

For Early Childhood Educators, relationships are essential- with co-workers, families and children. Building a positive climate in the workplace, classroom and the program, community has many important benefits.

Participants will discuss the benefits of relationships and analyze current strategies for building those positive climates and determine additional strategies that would be helpful. Participants will understand the importance of culture in relationships and discuss principles of culturally responsive practice. Participants will analyze current approaches to building community and analyze the effectiveness and impact on community culture in the workplace, classroom and program.

Through discussion and activities, participants will develop action steps for intentionally developing relationships with co-workers, children and families.

July 14, 2026: 11:30 AM-1:30 PM - Click Here to Register

July 22, 2026: 3:00 PM-5:00 PM - Click Here to Register

From Stress to Strength is a two-hour professional learning experience designed for infant and toddler educators. This training explores the powerful connection between teacher wellness and children's behavior, emphasizing how adult stress regulation directly shapes co-regulation, relationships, and learning.

Participants will examine common sources of stress in early care settings, reflect on their own wellness practices, and learn responsive strategies for supporting challenging behaviors in infants and toddlers.

Through reflection, discussion, and practical tools, educators will leave with increased self-awareness, confidence, and concrete strategies that promote calm, connection, and resilience for both adults and young children within everyday classroom routines.

July 16, 2026: 1:00 PM–3:00 PM - Click Here to Register

July 28, 2026: 11:30 AM–2:30 PM - Click Here to Register

This professional development event has been designed for center based lead and assistant teachers that work with preschool aged children.

Teachers will learn practical and effective strategies for building strong supportive relationships into the preschool classroom utilizing the social and emotional pyramid model. Practitioners will understand that building relationships and being intentional within their relationships with children will create a supportive environment for all children.

July 23, 2026: 3:00 PM–5:00 PM - Click Here to Register

July 30, 2026: 12:30 AM–2:30 PM - Click Here to Register

Children need a safe and secure environment to thrive. Our interactions with them are an integral part of ensuring we are providing the highest quality environment for the children in our care. This course will give attendees an overview of the importance of positive interactions and strategies to intentionally build strong relationships with children.

July 20, 2026: 12:00 PM–2:00 PM - Click Here to Register

This workshop will include but is not limited to the following: The participants will explore and discover the value of implementing DAP pertaining to children’s yoga, movement and music into the classroom.

The participants will have multiple opportunities to engage in current mindfulness practices that will decrease suspension and expulsion rates, and increase student’s attendance. The participants will be given opportunities to apply numerous strategies to assist in creating nurturing relationships to build positive and nurturing relationships between the student, their peers and the teacher.

July 30, 2026: 10:00 AM–12:00 PM - Click Here to Register

This session is geared toward leaders such as directors and coaches working to support teachers. Leaders play a key role in supporting teacher self-efficacy.

Through practicing and reflecting upon self-awareness, cultural responsive practices, communication and relationships, leaders will gain strategies to encourage teacher confidence and abilities in the various essential roles that they play.

Activities and resources will engage leaders in the process of taking a strength-based approach to support resiliency, ability and confidence to take action, and promote the sustainability of strategies to impact change in programs. Emphasis on leader self reflection strategies: active listening, adjusting approach and collaborative reflection.

August 4, 2026: 10:00 AM–12:00 PM - Click Here to Register

Trainings Facilitated by Lakeshore Professional Development

We know that the key to any healthy relationship is clear communication, but what happens when our communication style doesn’t seem to jive with another’s?

In this session, we will take the time to determine what we need from others when communicating and what our “hot buttons” may be. We will reflect on how we wish to be communicated with and understand that others may have different needs. By taking the time for personal reflection and acknowledging the needs of our colleagues, we will be better equipped to communicate more effectively with those we lead.

July 24, 2026: 9:00 AM–11:00 AM - Click Here to Register

July 24, 2026: 1:00 PM–3:00 PM - Click Here to Register

How can leaders foster environments that support calm, regulation, and well-being for everyone in an early childhood setting? In this session, leaders will explore the purpose and impact of calming spaces, including calming corners, and how they can be thoughtfully implemented across classrooms and throughout the entire program.

Participants will examine key elements that make these spaces effective—such as accessible materials, intentional design, and consistent use—and how to support staff in embedding them into daily practice.

The session also highlights how calming spaces can benefit not only children, but also educators and families by promoting a culture of care and regulation. Emphasis is placed on leadership strategies that ensure these practices are sustainable, meaningful, and supportive for the whole community.

July 31, 2026: 9:00 AM–11:00 AM - Click Here to Register

July 31, 2026: 1:00 PM–3:00 PM - Click Here to Register

We all have unique ways that we process big emotions and regulate our nervous systems.

Do you prefer to sit in a quiet space, or would you rather take a brisk walk? Children have the same needs but what does that look like in the environment?

In this session, we will explore ways to create contained energy zones in the learning environment for children using multiple sensory activities. We will identify a variety of behaviors and strategies to support children’s range of needs from “Amp it Up” to “Calm it Down” throughout the day. We will evaluate our routines, transitions, and schedules and explore ways to offer choice; empowering children to access activities that encourage self-regulation.

August 3, 2026: 12:30 PM–2:30 PM - Click Here to Register

August 13, 2026: 6:00 PM–8:00 PM - Click Here to Register

"Educators can always use more tools in their toolbox when supporting children who exhibit challenging behaviors. In this session, we will explore common causes of challenging behavior and creative solutions for redirection, de-escalation, and self-regulation using art materials and sensory experiences."

July 21, 2026: 12:30 PM–2:30 PM - Click Here to Register

July 21, 2026: 6:00 PM–8:00 PM - Click Here to Register

Trainings Facilitated by SPARK QSC

A new school year brings new personalities, cultures, and experiences to the classroom. Dynamics continue to change as children grow and new children enter our program.

In this PD opportunity, participants will use knowledge of early childhood development to create policies and procedures that foster safe and supportive learning environments for all children. Participants will create a classroom culture that encourages individual reflection within a strong classroom community.

C2, PSA 4, PSA 1, STARS Standards SQ 3.4.3, SQ 3.4.4, SQ 3.4.5, Recommended for teachers, directors and administrators

July 16, 2026: 1:00 PM–3:00 PM - Click Here to Register

In this training, participants will learn about 5 social emotional factors that influence behavior. Participants will come away with practical strategies to address behavior based on a tiered approach.

Strategies may be applied classroom-wide, to small groups, or to individual children to address all learners' social emotional needs.

PQAS 2 hrs Level C2

PSA 1: Child Development and Learning in Context
PSA 7: Health and Safety Targeted Audience: Teachers, Directors, Administrators, Owners

August 12, 2026: 1:00 PM-3:00PM - Click Here to Register

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The Office of Children and Families is committed to supporting publicly funded preschool programs in being able to meet the needs of the children and families served. Understanding the underlying causes of challenging behaviors is essential for educators to be able to provide appropriate support and interventions to help children develop positive coping skills and social-emotional competence which will result in the reduction of challenging behaviors exhibited.