Getting Back on Track: Empathy with a Strengths-Based Mindset for Growth Applied to Students and Staff Improves Student Course Pass Rates

Berena Cabarcas • Cahn Fellow 2019

After two consecutive years of record-breaking four-year high school graduation rates of 81% and 85% in our South Bronx High School for recent immigrant teens, the school faced a rude awakening with an almost 25% drop in four-year graduates. How did complacency play a role among staff and administrators? Would adaptive responses turn the tide? Could turning the tide continue in the presence of a pandemic, social protests, exacerbated social inequalities, and overwhelmed staff, students, and families? Join us on our Cahn journey with these unexpected twists and turns that presented substantial opportunities for growth.