NEWTOWN, Conn. – Students in thousands of schools nationwide are building belonging and creating more connected school communities during Sandy Hook Promise’s week-long national call to action, Start with Hello Week. Throughout the week (September 15–19, 2025) thousands of youth from Students Against Violence Everywhere (SAVE) Promise Clubs in K-12 schools will be leading a range of activities designed to strengthen feelings of belonging among students.
Boosting student connection is more important than ever. The U.S. is in the “midst of a youth mental health crisis,” according to the CDC. Young people have been reporting unprecedented rates of mental health concerns, with as many as 4 out of 10 reporting persistent feelings of hopelessness. Up to 20% of high schoolers have seriously considered suicide. Social isolation has been a correlating factor, with only slightly more than half of high school students reporting they feel close to people at their school, according to the CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey Data Summary & Trends Report.
The benefits of belonging are immense, and federal data from the CDC affirms it. When youth feel connected to others at their school, they are less likely to experience poor mental health, violence, substance use, and other risky behaviors. In turn, they are more likely to engage in positive behaviors, have better school attendance, and even have higher levels of academic performance.
That’s why the Start with Hello program is focused on helping educators, students, and community members address social isolation by increasing feelings of belonging. These activities encourage empathy in schools, address bullying, and help to prevent violence by ensuring that students feel welcome in school.
“Everyday acts of kindness can be transformative for students. Little actions have the power to change a child’s life for the better. Something as simple as ‘hello,’ having a conversation, or inviting a peer to join you for lunch makes children feel seen and included, increasing a sense of belonging in a school community. This is how we can empower students to feel like they matter,” said Crystal Garrant, Chief Program Officer at Sandy Hook Promise.
“By fostering belonging and connection, we create safer schools. Chronic social isolation is often one of the warning signs linked to harmful behaviors, self-harm, and violence. But it’s also an area where we have the power to affect change. The Start with Hello program teaches students to prevent isolation through prosocial skills that increase empathy. Students are taught three steps: see someone alone, reach out and help, and ‘start with hello.’ This is how we can create more connected school cultures where students look out for one another,” Garrant said.
Counselor Mary Duffy from Dennis Earl Elementary School in California previously shared a tangible outcome that was observed at their school after Start with Hello was implemented.
Duffy said, “It got the kids thinking about how they interact with one another and promote kindness, inclusivity, and the idea of looking out for each other. We saw a drop in referrals for behavior that week. We saw kids looking out for each other more. It was a great starting point in our year that is carrying over positively, and hopefully for the rest of the year.”
Start with Hello is part of Sandy Hook Promise’s Know the Signs programming, a set of proven prevention educational resources that take a comprehensive, evidence-informed, and sustainable approach to end school shootings and other forms of youth violence.
Participating in Start with Hello Week is free, includes flexible training options and age-appropriate curriculum. Students, educators, and families can register online and access numerous resources including:
- Lesson plans and activities
- The Start with Hello Monthly Family Activity Guide
- Guides for schools and students
- Access to training videos and slide decks via the online Sandy Hook Promise Learning Center at sandyhookpromiselearning.org.
- Multilingual resources
- And more
For more information about proven violence prevention programming, as well as resources for schools, homes, and communities, please visit sandyhookpromise.org.
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Sandy Hook Promise (SHP) envisions a future where all children are free from school shootings and other acts of violence. As a national nonprofit organization, SHP’s mission is to educate and empower youth and adults to prevent violence in schools, homes, and communities. Creators of the life-saving, evidence-informed “Know the Signs” prevention programs, SHP teaches the warning signs of someone who may be in crisis, socially isolated, or at-risk of hurting themselves or others and how to get help. SHP also advances school safety, youth mental health, and responsible gun ownership at the state and federal levels through nonpartisan policy and partnerships. SHP is led by several family members whose loved ones were killed in the tragic mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012.
Media Contacts:
Nick Dmitrovich | [email protected] | 203-304-9780 Ext. 279