TSD Inclusive

Troy School District is partnering with Defeat the Label during the 2026–27 school year to strengthen belonging, student agency, and healthy school communities across OneTroy. Following successful pilots in our elementary and secondary schools, this districtwide work will connect students, staff, families, schools, departments, and community partners through a shared approach to preventing bullying, strengthening Upstander behavior, and responding to harm.

Defeat the Label is a Michigan-based nonprofit that equips young people and adults with the skills and confidence to interrupt harm, support others, and help create communities where people are seen, valued, and considered.

What Will This Look Like for OneTroy?

• Upper Elementary - Six in-person Upstander lessons focused on empathy, resilience, recognizing bullying, and practicing safe ways to speak up and support others.
• Middle School - Eight Upstander sessions focused on peer accountability, digital citizenship, belonging, and responding to bullying or bias.
• High School - Eight One Table: Leadership for Belonging sessions that will bring together diverse student cohorts to build dialogue, agency, leadership, and shared responsibility for school culture.
• Families and Community - A four-part workshop series offering practical learning and conversation, including Raising Upstanders and The Digital Playground. Additional topics and dates will be announced.
• Staff, Schools, Departments, and Teams - Aligned learning and implementation support connecting this work with restorative practices, BIST, wellness, student voice, school culture and responsiveness, and district processes for responding to harm and bias.

Why This Work Matters

This partnership grew from listening to students, families, staff, and community partners, including conversations with the Troy African American Parent Network (TAAPN) about the need for greater alignment and cohesion. Our goal is to create a more connected district approach so that belonging is reflected in what we teach, how we build community, how we respond when harm occurs, and how students and families help shape the way forward. Belonging will continue to guide our direction and remain a condition we intentionally foster and strengthen across OneTroy.

What Comes Next

District and building teams are mapping implementation schedules now. Families will hear more as dates, participating student groups, school-specific plans, and community learning opportunities are finalized. Schools will communicate building-level details directly, and information about the four-part family series will be shared districtwide.

We invite our families and broader community to learn with us, participate in upcoming sessions, and help us continue building this work together.

Learn more about Defeat the Label at defeatthelabel.com.

OneTroy is home to students, staff, and families representing many cultures, faith traditions, languages, identities, and lived experiences. This newsletter invites our entire community to celebrate and embrace those differences, expand our awareness, and continue cultivating empathy, curiosity, and connection across our schools.

As we move through another school year together, this annual reminder offers us an opportunity to pause and consider how we acknowledge the cultural, religious, heritage, and awareness observances that are meaningful to members of our community. These moments can be powerful opportunities to build belonging, deepen understanding, challenge stereotypes, and help ensure that every student, staff member, and family feels seen, respected, and valued.

This issue highlights inclusive observances and learning opportunities taking place from September and October 2026. Along the way, you will find reflection prompts, culturally responsive practices, wellness considerations, and trusted resources that can support continued learning at school and at home.This is not an exhaustive list, and no single resource can fully represent the diversity that exists within any culture, identity, faith, or community. We encourage everyone to approach these observances with care, curiosity, and a willingness to learn—while remembering that individuals within the same community may recognize or experience an observance differently.

National Recovery Month — Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Resources highlighting recovery, evidence-based treatment, behavioral health support, and the importance of supportive communities.

National Hispanic Heritage Month — Smithsonian National Museum of the American Latino
Bilingual educational resources, stories, activities, historical information, and opportunities to explore the diversity of Latino cultures and experiences. Hispanic Heritage Month runs from September 15 through October 15.

Deaf Awareness Month — National Deaf Center
Resources supporting accessibility, belonging, communication, and educational equity for deaf and hard-of-hearing students.

Hispanic Heritage Month, religious inclusion, Suicide Prevention Month, and the International Day of Peace each invite us to recognize the identities, experiences, and needs represented across OneTroy. That recognition can begin with practices that may appear small but carry tremendous meaning—pronouncing a student’s name correctly, honoring their language and culture, making room for their faith, noticing when they may be struggling, and listening to how they experience our schools.

Being seen matters. Being considered matters, too. Consideration means that students’ humanity, histories, needs, gifts, and dreams are part of our thinking before a lesson is written, an event is planned, or a decision is made.

This is the heart of co-design: creating WITH people and making space for their voice, agency, and leadership. We saw an important example during Welcome Back Week in August, when members of the Student Equity Council designed and facilitated their own professional learning sessions for district staff. Students identified what mattered to them, shaped the experience, and spoke directly with the adults who serve them.

Their leadership was an important step forward—and a reminder of what becomes possible when we build our school communities with one another, especially our students.

Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) is a way of improving schools with young people rather than for them. Students identify challenges in their community, conduct research, and develop solutions. Each word in the name carries part of the approach:

• Participatory: Everyone involved, including community members, is treated as a contributor of knowledge and lived experience.
  
• Action: The research exists to produce a plan for addressing a real problem.
• Research: It is a systematic look at a problem that centers community strengths, narratives, and knowledge.

In K–12 settings, YPAR can help us move from collecting student voice to building shared ownership. Students may use surveys, interviews, listening circles, observations, art, storytelling, or other forms of inquiry to explore issues connected to belonging, wellness, learning, school culture, or community. Educators serve as facilitators, thought partners, and advocates who help students access information, navigate systems, and bring their ideas to decision-making spaces. Stanford's Gardner Center notes that YPAR is especially powerful for young people experiencing marginalization. That fits our human-centered, culturally responsive approach and our Student Voice and Agency priority.

TSD Staff already building capacity

Some TSD staff have already committed to YPAR learning through the YPAR Certificate Program, offered by EMU Professional Programs and Training with Discover Without Barriers Consulting. The course is asynchronous and offers 30 State Continuing Education Clock Hours (SCECHs) for Michigan educators. Participants learn to:

• Understand why YPAR matters and how to advise student-led projects
• Identify appropriate audiences for student findings, building voice and agency
• Connect YPAR to problem-, place-, and project-based learning
• Learn the steps for doing a YPAR project alongside students

Resources for Educators

This season we recognize and honor our Jewish students, staff, families and community members observing the High Holy Days.

Rosh Hashanah | September 11–13, 2026
Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, marks a time of reflection, renewal and new beginnings. It also begins the Days of Awe, a sacred period of introspection that leads to Yom Kippur. For many Jewish families, the holiday includes prayer, gathering with loved ones and traditions that invite reflection on the year that has passed and hope for the year ahead.

Yom Kippur | September 20–21, 2026
Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is considered the holiest day of the Jewish year. Centered on reflection, repentance, reconciliation and renewal, many who observe spend the day in prayer and fasting from sundown through the following evening.

As a OneTroy community, recognition also calls us to consideration. Students, colleagues and families may be attending religious services, fasting, gathering with family, or stepping away from regular routines. Small acts of awareness, from considering scheduling and food-centered activities to extending flexibility and avoiding assumptions about how someone observes, help ensure people feel seen, valued and considered.

A few things to keep in mind:

• Jewish holidays begin at sundown, rather than at the start of the calendar day.
• Observance varies across individuals, families and Jewish traditions; there is no single way to observe.
• On Yom Kippur especially, fasting and extended religious services may affect participation, energy and scheduling for some students and staff.
• Recognition is more than naming a holiday on the calendar. It is an opportunity to practice curiosity, consideration and care for the people who make up our community.

To our Jewish families, students and colleagues, we honor this sacred season of reflection and renewal and wish you a meaningful observance and a sweet new year.

Resource Mine to Support Teaching and Learning (not an exhaustive list)

Jewish Educator Portal – Rosh Hashanah Resource Collection

https://educator.jewishedproject.org/content/rosh-hashanah-resource-collection

TeachersFirst – Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur

https://teachersfirst.org/spectopics/roshhashanahandyomkippur.cfm

About Rosh Hashanah – History.com

https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/rosh-hashanah-history

About Yom Kippur – History.com

https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/yom-kippur-history

Beginning September 15, National Hispanic Heritage Month is a national celebration that honors the history, culture, and influence of people of the past, present, and future generations of Hispanic heritage. Descendants of South and Central America, Spain, Mexico, and the Caribbean celebrate this time in various ways which to highlight the history, culture, and contributions of those Hispanic Americans.

On September 30, we recognize Orange Shirt Day, a day of remembrance and learning rooted in the story of Phyllis Webstad. When Phyllis arrived at a residential school as a child, the new orange shirt her grandmother had given her was taken away. Her story has become a call to honor Indigenous children who were separated from their families, languages, and cultures—and to remember those who never returned home.

Here in the United States, learning about Orange Shirt Day also invites us to examine the history and lasting impact of American Indian boarding schools. As we keep belonging our North Star, may we make room for truth, listen to Indigenous voices, and consider what it means for every child’s identity, language, family, and humanity to be valued in school. Indigenous communities’ stories of resilience and cultural continuity are part of this learning, too.

As October 7 approaches, we recognize the anniversary of the Hamas attacks in Israel and the grief, fear, and ongoing impact of the war in Gaza. For members of our school community, this date and the events that have followed may carry deep personal meaning. Students, families, and staff may be holding different experiences and emotions, including those they have not shared.

In moments like this, belonging asks something of us. As educators, we can make space for questions and feelings without asking anyone to speak for a community or share a personal story. When conversations arise, we can offer age-appropriate, fact-based context, listen with care, and make clear that every student deserves dignity and safety in our schools. We can also be mindful that a student may need support or a private conversation rather than a classroom discussion.

Thank you for the care you bring to our classrooms and relationships, especially when the world feels difficult to navigate together.

As Halloween approaches, let's guide our learners in celebrating creatively while respecting diverse cultures and avoiding cultural appropriation in their costume choices. It's essential that costumes do not diminish or stereotype others' traditions or histories. Let's use this opportunity to foster an environment of inclusiveness and mutual respect, ensuring our celebrations are fun and respectful for all. Wishing everyone a mindful and joyful celebration!

Indigenous Peoples’ Day invites us to honor the histories, cultures, knowledge, and living contributions of Indigenous peoples and Native nations. It is also an opportunity to listen to the stories Native communities tell about themselves and to help students understand that Indigenous peoples are part of our communities and our shared future. Let us make space for learning that is accurate, respectful, and grounded in Native voices, on this day and throughout the year.

1. Create a safe learning environment – safety “looks like” cultivating spaces where belonging is fostered. Spaces that welcome variation through curiosity, courageousness, and confirmation that every learner is exactly where the need to be for academic and social, emotional success.
   
2. Diversify learning material/content – culturally responsive teaching and learning considers the uniqueness of every classroom community member (including teachers) where learning is transactional and transformative.
   
3. Take stock of students’ needs – differentiation is essential to promoting equitable learning spaces. It goes hand in hand with diversity in learning materials providing each student exactly what they need, with high expectations for all.
   
4. Make student participation easy and exciting – craft educational situations where voice and choice is welcomed and appreciated. Deep inquiry through asking questions for instance, promotes deep learning.
   
5. Develop a rapport with every learner – relationships are not the least of importance but the foundation for successful, inclusive classrooms. One easy strategy to incorporate into classroom practices. They elevate community and can be curriculum focused or used for mindfulness moments.
   

Back in August, I had the opportunity to lead a PD session with those of you who selected it focused on finding balance in professional and personal spaces. It was a wonderful opportunity to build community together, and I wanted to share a piece of it more broadly.

Seven Art of Balance offerings were gifted:

1. Dig Deep — Check in with yourself, not just your to-do list. Ask what you've been carrying that you haven't actually named yet.

2. Apply Critical Love — Find something you love in every moment — not everything, but something. Let that be enough some days.

3. Rest as Resistance — Rest isn't something you have to earn. Use the PTO. Take the sick day. Notice when you're running on empty.

4. Grace and Accountability — Hold both at once — grace for where you actually are, and accountability to the standard you're capable of. Neither alone is the practice.

5. One Moment at a Time — Balance isn't a place you arrive at and stay — it's a decision you remake moment to moment. Let it look different day to day.

6. Let Go of What You Should Not Carry — Ask yourself honestly: whose is this? Release what was never actually yours to hold...or it might drop anyway, because it's TOO HEAVY!

7. A Call to Action — Move from awareness to commitment. Pick one small thing from this list and actually do it this week.