Grief-Informed Schools

IMAGINE IS A CENTER FOR COPING WITH LOSS

Become a Grief-Informed School or District

According to the CBEM (Childhood Bereavement Estimation Model) 1 out of 13 youth in the state of NJ will experience the death of a parent or sibling by age 18 (2024).

This number doesn’t include the death of other family membersfriends, or other non-death related losses a child can experience. These statistics indicate that in most NJ classrooms there are likely at least 2-3 students who are grieving a loss. This is the striking reality of childhood grief and speaks to why Imagine partners with schools and organizations to ensure no child grieves alone. 

"Imagine's training provides the foundation for understanding grief. Their amazing facilitators worked with our administrative team, faculty, students and parents to help us understand that school communities need this kind of training and conversation in an on-going way.”
Nicole Hager,
Former Director of the Upper School at Kent Place School 

Union Catholic High School Students who participated in Imagine’s Peer Mentor Training Program

Our vision is to create communities where students who have experienced any type of loss can feel seen, heard, and supported.

Imagine partners with schools to create educational communities where students coping with any type of loss receive support, learn to cope with their loss and develop resilience to cope with future losses.  

We do this by using a recommended tiered approach: 

  1. School administrators receive training first 
  2. Followed by the mental health support team 
  3. Teachers are up next 
  4. Parents/Caregivers are next in line  
  5. Leaving students to receive grief education after their supportive communities (school and home) receive training 

Imagine provides the following leveled courses
in English or Spanish:

How to Support Someone Coping with Loss

COURSE

OBJECTIVES

101

Understanding loss, grief, and mourning

  • Define loss, grief, and mourning.
  • Identify the different types of primary and secondary losses that we may experience and the impact of these losses.
  • Explain the importance of mourning and also describe what happens when mourning doesn’t occur.
  • Recognize the importance of using the Companioning Model to support those who are grieving.

201

Diving into grief
through an
intersectional
lens

  • Describe how shame affects how we protect ourselves and inhibits our ability to mourn.
  • Apply an intersectional lens to explore how we experience our own grief and support others who are grieving.
  • Give examples of how grief impacts children at different developmental stages.
  • Recognize how the school, organization or workplace climate affects those who are grieving.

301

Skill building,
planning, and
application

  • Discover ways to help rebuild the internal locus of control following a loss.
  • Apply knowledge and skills learned to various scenarios when supporting someone who is grieving.
  • Evaluate and/or create support responses to grief for various roles within the community of the school, organization or workplace.

LOSS AND GRIEF SPECIALIST TRAINING

  • Discover the parallel process that occurs when stories are shared, and space is created where you can bear witness to each other’s stories.
  • Practice facilitation and companioning skills that are modeled throughout the training.
  • Recognize the importance of self-care and community care and the consequences of not doing either.

If you have any questions regarding Imagine’s Training and Education Program, please contact Imagine’s Training and Education Director, Veronica C. Ortiz, LPC at veronica@imaginenj.org or by filling out our Training and Education Interest Form

For additional resources

Our friends at The Dougy Center compiled extensive research on the values of becoming a grief-informed district. You can view their findings here.

Testimonials & Shoutouts!

The foundation for understanding grief

“Students and educators manage so many types of grief in any given year and the Imagine training provides the foundation for understanding grief and for creating the time and space to talk about it in ways that strengthen the overall resilience of the community. My school partnered with Imagine to become a grief-informed community. Their amazing facilitators worked with our administrative team, faculty, students and parents to help us understand that school communities need this kind of training and conversation in an on-going way.”

Nicole Hager
Kent Place School
Creating a safe space to reflect, share, and learn

"The Point Pleasant Borough School District was fortunate enough to partner with Imagine to provide our School Counselors and Child Study Team with the necessary tools to assist our students and school community when experiencing grief. Veronica kindly accommodated our training needs to ensure the staff members' needs and questions were answered. Imagine created a safe space during the training to reflect, share, and learn from one another."

Nicole Hankins
Point Pleasant Borough School District
Helped elevate our work inside our schools and beyond

“We truly cannot say enough about the incredible experience our school social work team had during the Grief/Loss Specialist trainings with Imagine. Veronica and Angela created a safe environment for our team to not only learn how to support grievers, but also reflect on our own experiences and understanding of grief and loss. The information, exercises, and opportunities to share and learn from one another helped elevate our work inside our school buildings and beyond. We are on our way to becoming a grief informed school district because of Imagine and look forward to this continued partnership in service of our school community!”

Dr. Jillian Martinez, DSW, LCSW
North Star Academy - Camden Prep

Support Imagine Grief Programs

You are not alone.
Visit Imagine and see firsthand how we can help.
Subscribe to Our
E-newsletter
Receive updates along with resources for coping with loss.