Creating Classrooms Where Every Student Belongs
Founding Cohort | summer 2026
The Educator's ABCs™ Fellowship is now accepting applications for educators ready to strengthen classroom culture and student belonging. Rooted in Awareness, Belonging, and Compassion, this founding cohort is limited to 10 –15 educators, an intimate, transformative experience for those committed to growth.
Educate & Elevate
Transforming classroom culture through awareness, belonging, and compassion.
Educate & Elevate strengthens educators and school communities through trauma-informed, culturally responsive, and relationship-centered professional learning.
The Educator’s ABCs™ is our signature cohort model, equipping educators to lead with Awareness, design for Belonging, and respond with Compassion

A Fellowship for Educators Committed to Growth
What Is This Fellowship?
The Educator's ABCs™ Framework supports teachers in building classroom communities rooted in Awareness, Belonging, and Compassion.
How It Works
A small cohort of educators comes together to deepen their practice, strengthen student relationships, and explore ways to respond to classroom challenges with compassion, accountability, and cultural awareness — through reflection, dialogue, and practical strategies.
The ABC Framework
Three interconnected pillars form the foundation of every classroom transformation in this fellowship.
Awareness
Understanding adult triggers, implicit bias, and nervous system responses that influence classroom interactions and discipline decisions.
Belonging
Creating classrooms where identity, voice, predictability, and relational trust are intentionally cultivated for every student.
Compassion
Responding to behavior with regulation, restoration, and accountability while maintaining dignity and high expectations.
An Integration Framework, Not Another Initiative
Schools are filled with powerful initiatives like DEI, SEL, PBIS, restorative practices, MTSS. Yet too often, they operate in isolation. Educators are left managing behavior without an integrated model for belonging, identity, and regulation. The result? Burnout. Discipline disproportionality. Fragmented classroom culture.
The Educator's ABCs™ is not another initiative. It is an integration framework shifting classrooms from control-driven environments to structured, human-centered communities.
Fellowship Experience
Fellows receive a comprehensive, year-long learning journey with all core resources included.
1
2-Day Summer Intensive
A deep-dive professional learning immersion to launch your transformation.
2
9-Month Implementation
Hybrid, guided implementation throughout the school year with monthly virtual cohort gatherings.
3
Structured Reflection
Reflective submissions, classroom application, and data tracking to measure growth.
4
Books & Materials
All professional books, learning materials, and restorative practice resources provided for fellows.

✔ SCECHs available through MDE — Educate & Elevate is an approved Michigan Department of Education professional development vendor.
Who This Fellowship Is For
This May Be For You If…
  • You teach in culturally diverse, Title I, or high-need schools
  • You serve marginalized or historically excluded students
  • You want new tools for discipline and classroom culture
  • You are committed to equity and belonging for all students
  • You work with Tier 2 behavioral supports
  • You are open to reflection, personal growth, and collaboration

What We Are Looking For
We are seeking educators who are willing to do the deep, courageous work of transformation — in themselves and in their classrooms.
Examine Assumptions
Reflect honestly on your own patterns and biases with curiosity, not judgment.
Practice Regulation First
Commit to regulating before redirecting — modeling the calm you want to see.
Full-Year Commitment
Engage in a complete school-year transformation process with accountability and community.
Balance Compassion & Accountability
Build classrooms where high expectations and human dignity coexist.
Cost & Access
The Educator's ABCs™ is designed to be accessible to all educators. We encourage school or district sponsorship whenever possible. Limited scholarships are available to ensure financial barriers do not prevent participation.
Our goal is simple: educators should not carry the cost of transformation alone.
Stipend and classroom micro-grant support are available.
If you are ready to create a classroom grounded in Awareness, Belonging, and Compassion, we invite you to apply.
Apply to Become an Educator's ABCs™ Fellow
Applications Now Open
Space is limited to 10 –15 educators for this founding cohort. Don't miss your opportunity to be part of this inaugural Grand Rapids cohort.
Apply Here:
Click here

Founding Cohort Highlights
  • Limited to 10–15 educators
  • 2-Day Summer Intensive included
  • 9-Month guided implementation
  • All books & materials provided
  • SCECHs available through MDE
  • Scholarships available
  • Applications due June 27th, 2026
  • Participants notified June 30th
  • Cohort Begins July 23, 2026