The uvalde consolidated independent school district (ucisd), in uvalde, texas, proposes implementing the uvalde unity project: promoting safety through service-learning, a BJA stop project

The U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) awarded a $1,000,000 Project Grant under the STOP School Violence Program (CFDA 16.839) to the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District (UCISD) in Uvalde, Texas. The grant will fund the implementation of the Uvalde Unity Project, a comprehensive trauma-recovery model that will provide focused support for 360 students and broad interventions reaching 720 students in grades 1 through 9 who were impacted by mass violence. Key project activities include hiring 4.0 FTE staff to deliver social-emotional support, providing professional development in areas like social-emotional learning and restorative practices for 50 teachers, and implementing a service-learning prevention education program through student-led school and community projects. The goal is to support students, teachers, and the broader school community in rebuilding a sense of trust, belonging, and agency as caring citizens of Uvalde. The project period runs from October 1, 2024, to September 30, 2027.

The purpose is to implement a holistic trauma-recovery model within two grade cohorts, providing focused support for 360 students, and broad interventions reaching 720 students impacted by mass violence in grades 1 through 9. Through the project, ucisd will adopt safety strategies to increase attendance, reduce behavioral incidents, and improve school climates, to prevent future violence in the school and the uvalde, texas community. Project activities include hiring 2.0 FTE cohort success interventionists and 2.0 FTE service-learning facilitators to provide cohort-based social-emotional support for 360 students; professional development in social-emotional learning, school safety, restorative practices, and peer mediation for 50 teachers in grades 6-9; implementing a project-based, restorative service-learning prevention education program through school- and community-based projects envisioned, designed, and implemented by students, and pairing older and younger grade levels to share service-learning experiences and nurture supportive connections. Through these reparative activities, ucisd will support students at all grade levels and adults in the schoolwide community to rebuild a sense of trust, belonging, and agency as caring citizens of uvalde. Expected outcomes include reduced disciplinary incidents, increased attendance, and strengthened protective connections among two grade-level cohorts. Intended beneficiaries of the project include ucisd students in grades 1 through 9,teachers, parents, and community members.