Safer Schools and Campuses Best Practices Clearinghouse

Providing Reliable Information to Support Safe Reopening of Schools and Campuses

Overview

Synergy was entrusted with developing and maintaining the Safer Schools and Campuses Best Practices Clearinghouse (the Clearinghouse), aligned with the high-priority initiative of safely reopening schools following closures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Clearinghouse Website offers resources, lessons learned, and best practices for state, local, and tribal education practitioners across three instructional levels—PreK-12 Schools, Early Childhood Programs, and Colleges and Universities—and focuses on safely reopening and maintaining in-person operations; supporting students, educators, and school staff; and ensuring equity within these efforts. The resources on the Clearinghouse website are thoroughly vetted by federal agencies and subject matter experts, resulting in a high-quality virtual repository of resources tailored to the unique needs of different types of education agencies and postsecondary institutions.

The Clearinghouse also offers a List Serv, disseminating timely information and updates to nearly 1,000 subscribers, as well as a dedicated space on the website that showcases all disseminations. Find them here: https://bestpracticesclearinghouse.ed.gov/listserv.aspx

School kids running in elementary school hallway

Impact

The Clearinghouse website has enhanced the ability of schools, early childhood programs, institutions of higher education, and state and local education agencies to open and operate safely despite the ongoing pandemic, meet the most pressing needs of their communities, and pivot toward long-term recovery efforts. Stakeholders benefit from the robust and extensive Resource Library, with more than 740 resources (catalogued by type, topic area, instructional level, and equity focus). An interactive map provides links to state and local education agency plans for the use of American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds (where available) to support community engagement and encourage public transparency around the use of federal COVID-19 relief funds.