This year, we visited James Island Elementary in Charleston County School District to support their strengths-based implementation work with K–2 students. During the visit, we helped facilitate the Thrively Strengths Assessment process with younger learners, visited classrooms, and observed students actively applying their strengths in authentic learning environments. We also spent time with the school’s gifted and talented program, where students demonstrated strong self-awareness, collaboration, and confidence as they connected their strengths to their learning experiences.
The visit highlighted the impact of intentionally embedding strengths-based practices early in a student’s educational journey and reinforced how student voice, reflection, and strengths language can positively influence engagement, learner identity, and overall school culture. It was especially powerful to see students confidently articulate what they are strong in and how those strengths support both their academic and personal growth.
Starting the new school year strong is more than a routine tune-up—it’s an opportunity to humanize learning in transformative ways that produce positive, lasting impact. As the Chief Learning Officer at Thrively and someone who has spent nearly 25 years leading and learning in K-12 education—from classroom teacher to assistant state superintent—the start of the school year has always been an exciting time for me. As we begin the 2025-2026 school year, I am also excited to share insights on a few research-based (and practitioner-approved) ways to start this academic year strong.
Thrively was founded on a core philosophy that every child has a genius and they deserve to thrive. We begin with “What’s strong with you?” Not what’s wrong with you. Our core mission is to bring a paradigm shift to education through asset-based learning; we do this by working with educators across the country to create strengths-based, joyful and hopeful learning environments that increase student academic outcomes.
Humanize Learning: Begin with “What’s Strong With You?”
Humanizing learning begins with understanding each student’s unique strengths, aspirations, and goals. Begin by asking students, “What’s strong with you?” This question shifts focus from shortcomings to strengths, creating an environment where students are celebrated for their capabilities. During my time as an elementary school principal, I hosted “Strengths Days,” where students showcased talents through performances, exhibitions, and workshops. Students lit up with pride, and the energy it brought to the school was palpable.
1. Know Every Student by Name, Strengths, Aspirations, and Needs
An essential first step in starting strong is knowing every student’s name, unique strengths, and personal goals and aspirations. This isn’t merely about collecting data—it’s about being genuinely curious and committed to understanding each individual’s contribution to the collective classroom and school culture. As a high school English teacher, I dedicated the first few weeks of the school year to engaging in one-to-one conversations with my students (yes, all 150+ of them), discovering what made them ‘tick’. Beyond fostering trust and rapport, it helped tailor lessons to better engage learners.
2. Create Inclusive and Safe Learning Environments
Creating a psychologically safe environment is foundational for learning. Inclusive spaces should prioritize student well-being. Real-time wellness check-ins can be critical in this process. For example, during my time as a superintendent of schools (this was during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic), we implemented daily wellness check-in sessions that gave K-12 students space to name, explain and explore their feelings and concerns. This approach fostered an atmosphere where students felt heard and respected, leading to a more engaged and human-centered learning community.
3. Instill Hope through Goals, Agency, and Pathways
Hope isn’t just a feeling; it’s a cognitive trait that we can measure and nurture by helping students identify and pursue their goals. During my time supporting state-identified Priority and Focus schools as regional director of education, a student-led initiative called “The Pathways Project” was designed to enable students to create vision boards mapping out their academic and personal aspirations. Encouraging students to imagine and articulate their dreams and goals instilled in them a sense of purpose and agency, setting a tone of optimism and possibility for the rest of the year.
4. Monitor Student-Teacher Relationships: Connection Over Programs
School culture isn’t created by programs; it’s built by individuals who feel connected to a community. Deepening these connections should be intentional and systemic. As the chief academic officer of a 20,000 student school district, I introduced “Connection Cards,” where teachers noted and shared positive observations about each student weekly. This not only heightened awareness of student accomplishments but also provided students with a written acknowledgment of their contributions, strengthening teacher-student relationships.
There is a quote by Maya Angelou: “Do the best you can until you know better. Then, when you know better, do better.” I am reminded of this quote because during each phase of my professional career I implemented practices and resources to humanize learning (or what I knew at the time about this work); however, when I reflect on these experiences, I wonder how my actions and the actions of my colleagues would have been amplified and maximized if we had a systemic way to operationalize our efforts.
What if there was a way to operationalize this work, to be provided with targeted resources to act intentionally, and to engage in professional learning designed to give you confidence to say, “we see and know everyone in our learning community.”
Join the Thrively ‘Connections’ Community of Practice
I invite you to join the Thrively ‘Connections’ Community of Practice. As a participant you’ll gain access to exclusive resources, collaborative opportunities with innovative educators from across the country, and a learner-centered platform for professional growth—all designed to humanize learning and to help you create the conditions to start and stay strong this school year!
Interested in learning more? Explore the following resources and contact me directly at marion@thrively.com:
As someone who has worked at both the school and district levels, I’ve seen firsthand how budget constraints, staffing shortages, and competing priorities challenge even the most passionate education leaders. When exploring strengths-based learning or asset-based learning programs, the question is often the same: “This sounds amazing—but how can we fund it?”
The answer? Strategic use of existing federal funds. What many don’t realize is that the money you need may already be at your fingertips—if you rethink how you allocate it.
Thrively’s learner-centered, strengths-based platform is designed to align seamlessly with federal funding requirements, maximizing the impact of every dollar while promoting whole child learning, student well-being, and personalized learning.
Title I: Discover Every Student’s Strengths and Spark Academic Growth
Title I funds, intended to enhance academic achievement for disadvantaged students, can be used to implement Thrively’s industry-first Strengths Assessment. This 30–45 minute activity helps identify each student’s top five unique strengths, forming the foundation for personalized learning, student agency, and holistic student development.
Imagine knowing every student by their name, need, strength, and aspiration. This builds a student portfolio rooted in multiple intelligences, Habits of Mind, and real data from tools like Thrively’s Interest Inventory or RIASEC assessment—turning learning into a personalized, purpose-driven journey.
Title II: Empower Educators with Strengths-Based Professional Development
I’ve seen how high-quality professional learning directly influences teacher retention. Title II funds can support Thrively’s asset-based teaching strategies, aligned with MTSS and PBIS support tools, and infused with social-emotional learning (SEL) practices.
Thrively’s professional development empowers educators to:
Improve teacher-student relationships
Foster student self-awareness and student self-identity
Integrate CASEL-aligned SEL tools for schools
Build thriving, inclusive learning cultures
Explore options ranging from self-paced modules to full system-wide PD, grounded in research and practice around whole child education and the Science of Hope.
Title IV: Turn 12,000+ Learning Hours into Purposeful Growth
From kindergarten to graduation, students spend 12,000–14,000 hours in school. Title IV funding supports the transformation of this time into engaging, purposeful learning through Thrively’s digital platform—home to 80,000+ minutes of standards-aligned content across 12 programmatic areas.
This supports Title IV’s focus on:
Well-rounded education
Safe and healthy students
Effective technology use
Extended learning opportunities and after-school support
With Thrively, students gain access to tools that fuel hope, resilience, and purpose—backed by the Hope Survey, universal screeners for well-being, and the whole child approach to education.
IDEA: Build Inclusive Learning Environments for All Learners
IDEA funds can support Thrively’s inclusive, tiered learning tools. By centering strengths, Thrively shifts IEP meetings from a deficit-based model to an asset-driven collaboration. Educators and families gain a shared language around student strengths, boosting engagement and promoting whole child development.
Thrively aligns with:
Strength-based progress monitoring
Universal screeners
Whole child assessments
SEL integration within IEPs
Perkins V: Link Student Strengths to Career Pathways
Thrively supports Career and Technical Education (CTE) by helping students connect their strengths to career paths, supporting Portrait of a Graduate and Graduate Portrait goals.
Through strengths-aligned planning, students explore careers with confidence, clarity, and purpose—key outcomes supported by Perkins V funding.
Use Thrively to:
Support career readiness
Enhance student agency and ownership
Design learner-aligned Portrait of a Learner initiatives
Title IX: Promote Gender Equity and Empower All Learners
Use Title IX funds to elevate equitable access to high-impact programming. Thrively supports:
STEM initiatives for underrepresented groups
Leadership and mentorship programs
Gender equity in CTE
Tailored wellness curriculum for students
The platform fosters self-identity development for every student, ensuring opportunity isn’t just equal—it’s empowering.
Finding the Path to “Yes”: Fund Braiding That Works
One of the most powerful lessons I’ve learned is this: It’s not about whether you can afford it—it’s about how you fund it.
Unlike most educational platforms that tap into one or two streams, Thrively supports strategic fund braiding, enabling schools and districts to:
Enhance academic achievement
Improve educator effectiveness
Boost student well-being
Expand career readiness
Drive true equity and access
Thrively’s whole child learning model promotes environments where hope, purpose, and student success flourish—regardless of background, circumstance, or learning differences.
Reimagine Your Federal Funds: Create Thriving Learners
What federal funding sources are you currently working with? Could Thrively be the connective tissue between your current initiatives?
Let’s rethink your learning continuum with a unified, strengths-based strategy that drives measurable impact and humanizes learning for every student.
