Chapter 14: An Urban District’S Approach to Scaling up Social-Emotional Learning Competencies Through A Leadership Lens

The Large Urban School District (LUSD), was founded in the mid-1800s, and currently enrolls more than 600,000 students in preschool through adult education at over 1,200 centers and schools. Geographically, the LUSD covers an area totaling 700 square miles and is a diverse global community consisting of approximately 30 smaller municipalities. In its schools, 94 languages other than English are spoken, and 74% of students are Latino, 10% White, 9% African American, and 8% Asian. Of this population, over 75% of students come from low-income households. The LUSD employs over 60,000 teachers, administrators, and support staff with an annual operating budget of over $7.5 billion. The demands on school leaders to meet the needs of this community and the people who serve them is ever growing and persistently urgent.