School Crisis Planning Guide

In an era of multiple complex crises, every K-12 school needs a team that’s fully prepared to take immediate action after traumatic events, deaths, and other major losses. This practical planning guide empowers school administrators and leaders to build, train, and sustain highly effective school crisis teams.

Developed by an author team with decades of experience—including David Schonfeld, the country’s go-to authority on responding to school crisis—this urgently needed book wraps everything leaders need to know and do into one accessible, comprehensive package. Readers will get critical information on the need for school crisis preparedness, the nuts and bolts of establishing and strengthening efficient crisis teams, and best practices and strategies for responding to different types of school crisis.

A school leader’s ultimate guide to proactive preparation, this book will help new and existing crisis teams respond quickly after traumatic events and loss and ensure the physical, social, and emotional wellbeing of students, staff, and the community.

Learn How To:

• Apply seven guiding principles for building a strong school crisis team and crisis response plan
• Implement the authors’ effective school crisis response model used in thousands of schools nationwide
• Reduce the negative impacts of crisis events and support healing and recovery
• Establish and train a crisis team that’s equipped to respond at any time
• Use an adaptable checklist of actions for your team to take after a crisis
• Design and implement tabletop exercises and drills that will strengthen preparedness without overwhelming participants
• Make appropriate decisions about memorialization and commemoration
• Provide effective staff support and professional self-care in the aftermath of a crisis involving traumatic exposure and deaths

Practical Materials: Give your team real-world guidance with vignettes, case studies, and tabletop exercises based on actual crisis situations. Plus, support your action plan with links to helpful resources, downloadable crisis notification templates, and training materials for school administration and staff.

David J. Schonfeld, M.D., FAAP, is a developmental-behavioral pediatrician and Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California and Children's Hospital Los Angeles. He is Chair of the National Advisory Committee on Children and Disasters and a former member of the Executive Committee of the American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Children and Disasters; he served on the National Biodefense Science Board from 2018 to 2021 and as a Commissioner for both the National Commission on Children and Disasters and the Sandy Hook Advisory Commission in Connecticut. Dr. Schonfeld has authored over 150 scholarly articles, book chapters, and books. He has provided consultation and training on school crisis and pediatric bereavement for over 35 years in the aftermath of numerous school crisis events and disasters within the United States and abroad. He has also conducted school-based research (funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Maternal and Child Health Bureau, William T. Grant Foundation, and other foundations) involving children's understanding of and adjustment to serious illness and death and school-based interventions to promote adjustment and risk prevention.

Marcia Quackenbush, M.S., MFT, is a licensed family therapist. She has more than 20 years of clinical mental health experience, much of which has been focused on children, adolescents, and families of people living with life-changing conditions or people coping with serious, potentially life-threatening illness in themselves or family members. Ms. Quackenbush has written extensively in the health education and bereavement fields, publishing numerous articles, curricula, and books.

Thomas P. Demaria, Ph.D., is a clinical and school psychologist and Fellow in both the Trauma and Clinical Divisions of the American Psychological Association. He has over 20 years of experience in behavioral health leadership and is recognized for his accomplishments as a teacher and mentor. Dr. Demaria was recognized by the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies for his clinical excellence for his work with World Trade Center families and first responders and mentorship of students. He was honored as a Distinguished Fellow for his extraordinary time, energy, and service contributed to the profession of psychology by the New York State Psychological Association and is a two-time recipient of the New York State Liberty Award for community service following disasters. Dr. Demaria assists with coordination of the National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement's Coalition to Support Grieving Students initiative and provides consultation to schools dealing with crisis and loss.