Dear Morningside Center Friends,

Holiday season has arrived, which can bring all kinds of big feelings into the classroom!

Below you'll find our 


• Winter Holidays Bundle,
• new collection of gatherings,
• a story about our wonderful day of workshops with Paraprofessionals in District 6,
• our just-launched SEL Graphic Novel,

and more!

And in addition to holiday season it’s also giving season—donate to support our work, including TeachableMoment lessons, this newsletter, and the 45,000+ students we will impact in 2026.

Enjoy!

Featured on Teachable Moment

A Month of Gatherings

When working with young people, it can feel like moments to build connection are precious and few. We, the Morningside Center community, are fully aware of the time constraints and curriculum mandates that, sometimes, prove obstacles to relationship nurturing. With gratitude and understanding, we offer a month of simple and effective prompts/activities to gather as a community and engage in brief but meaningful sharing, listening and/or engaged play. 

Winter Holidays Bundle

Make space in your classroom for students to share their holiday traditions, as well as their feelings about the upcoming holidays—whatever they may be—with this holiday lesson collection.

Featuring 8 lessons, including:

• Honoring Feelings During the Holidays
• SEL Tip for the Holidays: Handle Feelings by ‘Naming to Tame Them’  
• ...and more!

Sharing Stories: Building Family & Classroom Connections

Students engage family members in sharing stories of their history over the holiday break, dreams, or struggles - and share these stories with their peers. 

From our Blog

In Praise of Paraprofessionals: A Closer Look at Our Virtual Partnership

On November 4th (Election Day), the Morningside community gathered virtually with the paraprofessionals of District 6 (a NYC school district) for multiple unique Zoom sessions throughout the day.

What Do Restorative Justice and Leadership Mean to Our Students? Ask Maimouna

A high school senior shares her story: from an elementary “chatterbox” in the principal’s office to learning about the school-to-prison pipeline and what it meant when she finally met Morningside’s very own Staff Developer, Marisa. 

Unlocking Our Superpowers: SEL Goes to School

Morningside Center is so excited to present to you—all of our communities of all ages—a Social Emotional Learning Graphic Novel!

This collaborative labor of love is a visual SEL representation and gift from all of us to YOU made possible by a transformative i3 federal grant we were honored to receive during the COVID-19 pandemic. Big shout out to the Team at Media Sutra for all the work that went into this project!

“We must recognize and nurture the creative parts of each other without always understanding what will be created.” 

―Audre Lorde