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NSCC Turns 30: With Gratitude, Three Decades of Impact

  • National School Climate Center

Thirty years ago, the National School Climate Center began with an idea: the daily experience of school shapes how students learn, how they develop, and who they become.

At the time, school climate was at the margins of the education conversation. Today, it is woven into how schools and districts think about improvement and about the experience they create for students, educators, and families.

NSCC is enormously proud to have helped advance that work:

  • Reaching over 2 million students, staff, and families
  • Engaging hundreds of young people in becoming bullying prevention leaders in their own schools
  • Training thousands of educators
  • Establishing the definition and framework of “school climate improvement” as well as the National School Climate Standards, which have been used in states and municipalities to create safe, inclusive policies in schools.

This year, as we celebrate our 30th anniversary, we are excited to share more ways to engage with NSCC: 

  • a redesigned schoolclimate.org, providing resources and guides, with more supports to be added soon
  • a soon-to-be-released introductory online school climate course, enabling anyone to expand their knowledge of the basics of school climate and find their own path to school climate improvement
  • the opportunity to support this work through our 30 for 30 Campaign and our 30th Anniversary Celebration.

New Website

In 2025, we shared a new logo that represents the many parts of our school climate coming together to form a whole, cohesive unit. School climate encompasses many things: Safety, relationships, teaching and learning, inclusion, and leadership–all working together to make our schools even stronger. To go along with our new logo, we designed a website, reflecting the needs of educators and researchers. It brings our work together in one place while giving us more room to share the research, ideas, and partnerships that continue to shape it. This is a place where we can share what we are learning, what schools are sharing, what becomes possible when research and practice inform one another.

New School Climate 101 Course

As school climate becomes more present in schools, more educators, families and students must understand what makes a school climate safe and supportive. The more awareness we can build of the essential components of school climate, the more prepared schools will be to make improvements. A more positive school climate leads to reduced bullying and increased academic achievement, reduced absenteeism and increased teacher retention.

Share your support

Lastly, our anniversary also gives us a chance to invite others more directly into the work.

Through 30 for 30, we are asking our community to help us raise $30,000 in honor of 30 years of NSCC. The invitation is simple: give $30 for 30 years, or contribute at whatever level is meaningful to you.

That support gives NSCC something especially valuable: the freedom to carry our much-needed work further. As an independent nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, we are not driven by the bottom line or beholden to private investment. We are driven by the idea that young people deserve the most equitable learning environment, and are proud to build the world we envision.  

Much of what we do begins within a particular partnership or project. What we learn there often has value far beyond it. Flexible support helps us build on those lessons, strengthen the work around them, and make more of what we learn available to others.

The 30 for 30 campaign is also a way to celebrate the extraordinary community behind these 30 years.

NSCC has been shaped by people who believed that the experience of school deserved serious attention and that better understanding could lead to better schools. That belief has sustained this organization across three decades and continues to animate the work today.

We are deeply grateful to everyone who has been part of that story.

We hope you will celebrate with us.

And if you would like to help strengthen it, join our 30 for 30 campaign.

Thirty years is worth celebrating. And we are grateful to be celebrating it with the community that made it possible.

Take Your School Climate Improvement to the Next Level

Explore NSCC tools and guidance to help your school build safe, supportive, and thriving learning environments.

Solutions Hub
E Tsang, Director of Operations, National School Climate Center

E Tsang

Director of Operations

As the Director of Operations for NSCC, E Tsang helps make the finances, HR, and organizational functions of NSCC run smoothly.
Adam St. Bernard Jacobs(he/him), Co-Executive Director, National School Climate Center

Adam St. Bernard Jacobs (he/him)

Co-Executive Director

Adam is a peace educator and nonprofit leader. Adam was previously the organization’s Director of Development. Prior to joining NSCC, Adam was the co-founder and Executive Director of Kids Creative, an arts education organization in NYC. He was also a member of the team that founded a community elementary school in The Bronx. He has worked on issues of equity, anti-racism, arts education, and conflict resolution. He has written articles and led workshops in conflict resolution and the arts, giving talks and workshops at Columbia University, The Peace and Justice Studies Conference, Gettysburg College, and The University of Istanbul, among others. Adam has an undergraduate degree in International Politics, a Masters degree in Peace Education, and a Certificate in Senior Nonprofit Leadership, all from Columbia University, as well as an undergraduate degree in Rabbinic Law from The Jewish Theological Seminary of America. He was also Mr. Clown, a lead performer in the internationally acclaimed rock group for kids, The Dirty Sock Funtime Band, and was a regular on Nick Jr. and Chuck E Cheese TV. He is raising 2 fantastic children with his life partner, Tabitha.
Kori Hamilton Biagas, Director of Education, National School Climate Center

Kori Hamilton Biagas

Director of Education

Kori is an educator, connector, truth seeker, master facilitator, and the founder of Just Educators. Kori has nearly 20 years of experience in strategic planning, policy analysis and development, instruction, coaching, and technical assistance. As an Equity Specialist for the Region IV and Region IX equity assistance centers, Kori managed large-scale, racial equity driven school district transformation efforts, led district and state leaders through policy analysis, coached state leaders through school climate transformation initiatives, and provided equity-focused professional learning opportunities at all levels of education. Kori specializes in addressing and resolving inequitable policies, practices, and processes in organizations related to racial equity and social justice.
Christian Villenas, Ph.D, Co-Executive Director, National School Climate Center

Christian Villenas, Ph.D

Co-Executive Director

A sociologist by training and an applied education researcher by practice, Christian’s work examines how educational institutions shape opportunity, belonging, exclusion, and student experience. At NSCC, he helps guide the organization’s research, measurement, evaluation, partnerships, and strategic growth, with a focus on making evidence usable for schools, districts, and education partners. Before joining NSCC, Dr. Villenas held research and policy roles at GLSEN, Advocates for Children of New York, the New York City Charter School Center, the NAEP Education Statistics Services Institute, and the American Institutes for Research. Across more than two decades, his work has focused on school climate, social disparities in education, disability studies, LGBTQ student experiences, college access, education policy, program evaluation, and statistical analysis. He holds a BS from New York University, an MS from The New School, and a PhD in Sociology from Johns Hopkins University.
Amanda Weitzel, Director of School Partnerships, National School Climate Center

Amanda Weitzel

Director of School Partnerships

For over a decade at NSCC, Amanda has partnered with schools and districts across the country to support the implementation of school climate surveys and the strategic use of data to drive meaningful improvement. With a background in data analysis, customer success, and partner support, Amanda specializes in helping educators move beyond data collection to uncover actionable insights that strengthen school communities. Her work sits at the intersection of research, data, and practice, guiding school and district leaders in translating survey results into informed decisions that support student success, staff well-being, and positive learning environments. Amanda is passionate about empowering educators with the tools, knowledge, and confidence needed to create safe, supportive, and engaging schools where all students can thrive.
Samantha Elleman, Associate Director of Research, National School Climate Center

Samantha Elleman

Associate Director of Research

Samantha’s primary research topics span school climate, social inclusion, and school climate improvement. Prior to joining the National School Climate Center, Samantha worked as Assistant Teacher and Research Assistant at the Barnard Toddler Center. Her research interests include early childhood education, childhood trauma and protective factors, social-emotional education, and mental wellness in schools. Samantha holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Barnard College and a Master of Arts in Developmental Psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University.