Building Assets and Reducing Risks (BARR)

Building Assets and Reducing Risks (BARR) is a comprehensive, strength-based approach for ninth-grade students that uses eight interlocking strategies to build intentional staff-to-staff, staff-to-student, and student-to-student relationships in secondary schools. BARR requires a 3-year commitment from participating schools and involves reorganizing the ninth-grade master schedule into blocks/teams so that core subject teachers and their students share classes together, enabling teachers to collaborate effectively. The program includes regular block/team meetings and risk-review meetings to discuss student progress, challenges, and assets, and to develop interventions as necessary. BARR provides professional development, coaching, the I-Time curriculum (a social and emotional development curriculum taught weekly), and administrative supports. Schools commit to staffing a BARR coordinator (50-100% FTE depending on school size) and freeing up teacher time for meetings during regular planning time or after school.