Quiet Time for Public Schools

Model and Strategy

CWAE’s Quiet Time for Public Schools (QUIET TIME) is a mindfulness-based program in which students and teachers practice a deep form of meditation (deeper than sleep) to reduce stress and promote mental health, wellness, and overall development. Extensive research has shown that QUIET TIME reduces anxiety, depression, and anger in at-risk middle and high school students. It reduces stress and burnout for teachers, which promotes better teaching and learning. It improves students’ attendance, engagement in school, and academic achievement. It improves school climate by reducing conflict and fighting. By supporting young people’s mental health, social-emotional development, and success in school, QUIET TIME helps reduce stress in their families and communities. CWAE hopes to use support from Battery Powered to expand the reach of QUIET TIME through continuing program implementation and evaluation and by expanding dissemination of the model to interested parties in the U.S. and beyond.

Impact

CWAE plans to aggressively disseminate information about the QUIET TIME for Public Schools’ program design and benefits, to the public, educators, and other potential stakeholders beyond the sites where the program is well established or is being piloted. It plans to widely disseminate the program model and evaluation findings, host site visits at its model schools, and provide training to interested parties. This will include outreach and advocacy to educational administrators, policymakers, and funders, including foundations, corporations, and government agencies with an interest and a stake in improving the effectiveness of schools and the safety and viability of communities. CWAE hopes that by the end of the award period, state and federal funding will begin to be authorized to support similar projects around the U.S. and the world.

CWAE has trained over 8,000 students since 2007. During the award period, it expects to impact about 4,000 youth in San Francisco, plus another 3,000 at schools that decide to pilot QUIET TIME. Over time, as awareness of the program expands, other QUIET TIME programs will begin around the world, impacting thousands and eventually millions more.

CWAE (Center for Wellness & Achievement in Education)