As a community school director, Shannon Heffernan takes a holistic approach to student success. She understands that helping children thrive requires more than strong academics. It also means ensuring they have access to enrichment opportunities, family supports, and the social-emotional tools they need to navigate daily challenges.

Community schools are designed to provide those critical wraparound services, and a key part of Shannon’s role at C.S. 61 in the Bronx is building partnerships that make them possible.

One partnership is especially close to her heart.

A former dancer, Shannon knows firsthand how movement can support emotional well-being. Dance helped her manage stress, and later, when she was searching for new ways to decompress, she discovered yoga.

“Once I stopped dancing and trying to find other ways to be able to connect with my mind and body, I discovered yoga,” she said. “I personally felt the benefits, and I thought about how this could work in our own community, in our own space.”

Around the same time, Shannon learned about a Baltimore-based program bringing yoga into public schools. The initiative was linked to outcomes such as reduced suspensions and improvements in attendance, focus, and social-emotional well-being. Inspired by those results and her own experience, she began exploring how yoga and mindfulness could benefit students and families in her school.

During Community School Coordinators Appreciation Week, Children’s Aid is highlighting leaders whose work brings the Community School Essentials Framework to life. Shannon’s commitment to expanding social-emotional supports exemplifies the framework’s focus on creating a culture where students feel a sense of belonging, safety, and care.

Five years ago, while working at C.S. 211, a Children’s Aid community school in the Bronx, Shannon partnered with Sweet Water Dance & Yoga to introduce yoga and mindfulness programming to students and their families. Through Saturday “Family and Me” classes, instructors taught children and parents techniques to cultivate mindfulness, manage stress, and build healthy routines together.

When Shannon became community school director at C.S. 61 in 2023, she was determined to continue and expand the partnership. The Bronx elementary school serves students from 3-K through fifth grade, and Shannon quickly brought Sweet Water Dance & Yoga into the school community. Instructors now lead weekly yoga sessions during summer camp and monthly classes during the school year.

“When I transitioned to C.S. 61, it was one of the partnerships that I really wanted to ensure that we built upon because it's something that I'm really passionate about,” she said. “There are benefits when students feel calm and regulated. They're able to learn more.”

The partnership has continued to evolve based on the interests of students and families. Sweet Water Dance & Yoga has hosted Zumba classes for parents, creating opportunities for adults to benefit from movement and self-care. When students expressed interest in dance, the organization collaborated with Shannon to offer bachata, merengue, and hip hop dance classes.

The impact can be seen in students’ everyday lives.

“We've even heard some kids say, ‘All right, I need to be in a tree pose right now. I'm stressed.’”

For Shannon, moments like these demonstrate that students are not only learning yoga poses but also developing practical strategies to recognize and manage their emotions.

This school year, she hopes to expand yoga and mindfulness offerings through after-school programming. Student surveys show strong interest in continuing the classes, with many reporting that they feel calmer after participating.

Together, Shannon and her staff are working to make C.S. 61 a place where every student feels safe and supported. Their goal is to create an environment where emotional well-being is valued alongside academic growth and where students know there are caring adults invested in their success.

“I believe that yoga and mindfulness can help create a space that teaches students that they are allowed to express their emotions and have the tools and skills to manage those big emotions in a healthy way,” she said. “If we continue to create school environments where students feel not just physically safe but emotionally safe, we can create a space where they can be themselves and they know school is a place where they can belong and thrive.”