Through their redesign work, Monterey Peninsula Unified School District has explored deepening personal relationships and students’ feelings of connection within the school community. The design team knew that such personal relationships and feeling of connection are important foundations for student engagement and student learning – but that too often, there are inequities in terms of which groups of students feel most supported and connected to school.

The team conducted research to better understand the equity implications of personal relationships and students’ sense of belonging. They also explored options for adapting their district structures and processes to better prioritize the work of building these relationships and connections; for example, the team reviewed staffing and scheduling changes other districts had made so as to build intentional structures for relationship-building.

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