While normal classes are disrupted by COVID, SEL is becoming the primary work for many educators. One teacher in Minnesota put it well to me in an email: “During this time, social-emotional learning work isn’t just another thing to add to an educator’s plate. This is the plate.”

There’s widespread acknowledgement that we must pay greater attention to the social-emotional needs of our students because they’re suffering. When we get back to school, teachers and students will have to process their parents’ lost jobs, their tough times with their families at home, and how this crisis affects their future when it comes to college. If school resumes and this work isn’t prioritized, students will feel like schools really don’t get it and are out of touch with their needs.

Project Wayfinder, the organization I founded and currently run, specializes in SEL with curricula focused on supporting young people cultivate a sense of purpose. Right now, we’re seeing a surge in demand for our services as schools prepare to go back to school next year in the wake of COVID. Savvy school administrators are already thinking about how to ensure their staff are ready to meet students’ emotional and psychological, post-pandemic needs.

This is on the minds of school leaders across the country, including Michael Gayles, the founding principal of IGNITE Middle School in Dallas. IGNITE is a cutting-edge school that prioritizes the SEL needs of its scholars. In a recent email, Gayles wrote, “Meaning. Belonging. Connectedness. Emotional Health. COVID has amplified our awareness of these needs for our students. The crisis will pass, but my hope is that all school leaders will make these higher priorities.”