A trauma-informed approach begins with understanding the physical, social, and emotional impact of trauma on the individual, while also recognizing how it affects the professionals who help them.

At Precious Lamb, one thing that makes our program stand out is that we keep a low 1:6 teacher to child ratio. A typical classroom is 1:12. We call it low ratio, high attention. So, our teachers are able to help kids fill in learning kids gaps and give the extra care needed if a student is acting out. A former teacher once said that our kids are little people carrying big people problems on their shoulders. It’s true. Our kids have seen a lot and been through a lot. When they come to school, it comes out in either anxious withdrawal, or sometimes aggressive violence. The poverty gap is growing nationwide and our community, Long Beach, California has the sixth highest homeless population amongst large cities in America. Children overwhelmingly suffer the most from homelessness.

They experience high levels of anxiety and stress due to the unpredictability of residency. They also have 3x the rates of emotional and behavioral problems such as depression, withdrawal and aggression, experience health problems 4x more often than other kids and are more likely to be obese. However, there is hope! Research shows that children who attend high-quality preschool cuts the rates of them being held back a grade, in half; decreases juvenile arrests by a third; and increases high school attendance by a third, college attendance by 80% and employment by 23%. Your support allows us to offer an intimate, small class size environment that meets the needs of children experiencing trauma.