Mindful Schools Year-Long Certification Deepen your personal practice. Transform your work with youth.

2016/17 Program Year

Program Details

Because the nature of this program is immersive and in-depth, we highly recommend you read

through the details carefully.

Course Curriculum

The content of the Year-Long training will fall into the following three categories:

1. The development (or continued cultivation) of your own personal mindfulness practice.

2. The understanding of how personal practice increases dynamism, embodiment, and overall facilitation ability in your work with youth.

3. The effective implementation of mindfulness practices and techniques in your work with children & adolescents in a variety of contexts.

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The Year-Long Certification is made up of the following components:

Intensive Residential Practice: The year includes two week-long intensive residential

retreats – each with 3 days of silence and 3 days of workshop. These sessions will focus on

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three areas – intensive personal practice, embodied group facilitation, and community

building:

Personal Practice: The retreat space allows us to enter into a deeper

understanding of the principals and instructions of the mindfulness traditions. It

supports our exploration of ourselves, and our lives, and provides the

foundation for being an embodied and authentic mindfulness teacher. It also

synchronizes our use of language, as well as our understanding of core

techniques and principles.

Group Facilitation: Retreat time allows us the space for significant

experimentation, group exercises, role-plays, demonstrations, and inquiry. This

part of the training will feel as much like a performing arts or improv workshop

as a mindfulness retreat. It is, in our experience, one of the more neglected

components of good mindfulness teaching.

Community Building: A major intention of this program is to create and support

a community of contemplative educators and youth service providers. Our

experience shows that these retreats facilitate this better than any other

component.

Curricula for Youth: This training will expand on the curricula given during our prerequisite

Curriculum Training course for working with children and adolescents (aged 5-18). Adaptations

and alternate lesson plans will be given for many of the core Mindful Schools modules. Over

time you will be encouraged and supported, if you choose, to expand on these by creating

your own lesson plans. You will also be given various supporting documents and manuals for

teachers, parents and administrators.

Weekly Personal Practice: You will be asked to maintain a daily personal practice. What this

looks like will vary from person to person. Guidance around personal practice will be offered

during the retreat and weekly mentorship.

Weekly Content: The ten months of online learning will be driven by weekly content

including a variety of videos and written materials covering four key areas:

• Practice (material related to the cultivation of your personal practice)

• Curriculum (curriculum material, demystifying curriculum components, lesson variants,

key concepts, etc.)

• Science (psychology, neuroscience, research, program evaluation)

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• Skills (group facilitation, compassionate communication, working with trauma, other

supplementary modalities)

You can see a sample week of the program

here.

Weekly Group Consults with Trainers: A

trainer will be available each week to support

participants. Weekly Group Consults will be

held onl ine via interact ive webinars.

Participants will be able to attend live or

submit questions ahead of time. This format

allows participants to receive input from the

trainers on specific issues coming up in their work with youth, as well as receive more detailed

support regarding various topics, assignments, and personal practice.

Monthly Support Cohorts: You will be placed in a small sub-group with participants from a

similar geographic location and/or who have similar professional background. This smaller

group will be a way to stay more intimately connected and get specific support from your

fellow participants.

Guest Presenters: In addition to the core faculty, the program also features a number of

guest presenters on specialized topics including neurobiology, child development,

communication skills and other topics. Presenters include:

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Rick Hanson, Neuropsychologist & Author of

“Hardwiring Happiness”

Eve Ekman, Fellow, UCSF Osher Center for

Integrative Medicine

Dacher Keltner, Founder, Greater Good

Science Center, UC Berkeley

Willoughby Britton, Assistant Professor of

Psychiatry and Human Behavior at Brown

University Medical School

Ongoing Discussion Forums: Everyone in the course will have access to a forum open to

the entire group where you can stay in touch, share ideas, celebrate successes, or create topic-

specific discussions to deepen your conversations. This allows you to have access to a wide

range of experience and support.  

Certification Information

Participants who complete all program components and are awarded certification will be

featured in the Certified Instructors Directory on MindfulSchools.org. The directory will act as

referral network for the thousands of inquiries for programming Mindful Schools receives every

year. Our website currently receives 30,000+ visits per month, making it one of the most visited

mindfulness in education websites in the world. Learn more about the Certified Instructors

Directory here.

Process for Awarding Certification Participants seeking certification will be required to attend all 12 days of the in-person retreat

and complete all the online learning components of the course. Progress through course

content is tracked via an online learning management system. Participants will also be required

to put their skills to work by completing the Practicum and Evaluation component of the

program. Participants may take the program without seeking certification, in which case the

percentage of course assignments they complete will not be relevant, and the practicum and

evaluation components will be waived.

Practicum: Participants will be required to teach mindfulness curriculum material

to children or adolescents for a full program cycle. Specific suggestions for

meeting the practicum requirement will be offered for different populations

(classroom teachers, therapists, social workers, etc.). Participants will be required

to videotape a complete lesson, unedited. This will be submitted for review by

the trainers.

Evaluation: Participants will be required to administer simple evaluations to the

youth they are teaching and to one administrator, professional, or parent who

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has approved and/or witnessed the program. These evaluations will be part of

determining your full certification.

Review Process: Practicum video(s) and evaluation data will be reviewed by the

trainers. Participants will be evaluated uniformly in several core areas (group

facilitation skills, student engagement, and clarity of presentation, etc.).

Participants will be given specific and constructive feedback in these areas with

the opportunity to submit additional videos if any area requires more

development. Please be assured that this review process is supportive and

friendly – we want you to succeed!

Please note: If you are participating in the Year Long and seeking certification and you do not

have access to youth to fulfill the practicum requirement, you will have one year after the

second retreat to complete this requirement.

Requirements, Retreat Logistics, Pricing and Scholarships

Before applying for the program, you must have completed both prerequisite courses. It’s critical to enter this training with a foundational personal practice as well as the Mindful Schools framework and language for teaching mindfulness.

Prerequisites This program has 3 prerequisites:

• An established personal practice of at least 2 years

• Completion of the Mindful Schools Mindfulness Fundamentals course

• Completion of the Mindful Schools Curriculum Training

Please note: We cannot waive either of these prerequisites in lieu of other trainings or practices

as we want to ensure that you gain experience with integrating the framework, practice and

intention before moving forward with the deeper work in the Year-Long Program.

Retreat Logistics You can choose to attend the Opening and Closing Retreats on East Coast or West Coast, but

you must attend both retreats at the same location.

Single and double occupancies are available at a first come, first serve basis. Food is provided

for you, but please contact us if you have severe allergies that we should be aware of so we can

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best accommodate you. Please also be in touch if you have needs that require special

accommodation.

Plan to arrive at 4pm to check-in on the first day of the retreat. We will conclude on the final

day by noon.  

East Coast Retreat Dates

The East Coast Retreats will be held in Garrison, NY at the Garrison Institute.

• Opening Retreat: August 5 - 11, 2016

• Closing Retreat: August 7 - 13, 2017

West Coast Retreat Dates

The West Coast Retreats will be held in Petaluma, CA at the EarthRise Retreat Center at

Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS).

• Opening Retreat: July 20 – July 26, 2016

• Closing Retreat: June 25 - July 1, 2017

Pricing

Tuition

Full Price: $3,800

Early Bird: $3,300 Please Note: Early bird tuition is limited to the first 100 accepted applicants.

We offer limited, need-based scholarship tuition at $2,300. Since this tuition level is limited, it is only reserved for those meeting the scholarship criteria (found below). Scholarship decisions will be given February 1, 2016.

Retreat Lodging

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East Coast at Garrison Institute in New York (price includes both Opening/Closing Retreat

food and lodging):

Single Occupancy (limited capacity): $1,764 Double Occupancy: $1,575 Dorm Occupancy (limited capacity): $1,386

West Coast at IONS in California (price includes both Opening/Closing Retreat food and

lodging):

Single Occupancy (limited capacity):: $2,280 Double Occupancy: $1,902 Please Note: Single occupancy is limited and given first-come-first-serve upon registration.

Participants are responsible for the cost of their own travel accommodations.

Scholarships

Mindful Schools is dedicated to making our trainings available to people who would otherwise not be able to attend. We receive more requests for financial assistance than we can fulfill, so please take your time to evaluate your need honestly and thoughtfully. Scholarship awards are made on February 1, 2016.

• Scholarship tuition recipients is $2,300 • Recipients must be able to cover the cost of their scholarship tuition plus retreat

lodging and travel. • Scholarship recipients must commit to the entire program to be considered for this

scholarship.

Scholarship Criteria In awarding scholarship tuition, we prioritize the following:

• Applicants currently working in a paid capacity in public school or agency

environments with high-risk and/or underserved populations. • Applicants in education and youth mental health who have diverse backgrounds and life

experiences (including but not limited to: race, class, gender and sexual

orientation) • Applicants with significant and demonstrable economic need.

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Payment, Cancellation and Refund Policies

Deposit To reserve your spot in our Year Long Program, please make a $500 deposit via check or credit card (VISA, Mastercard, and AMEX accepted) within 10 business days of acceptance to the program. If you do not put down a deposit within this timeframe, you forfeit your spot but will be added again once the deposit is paid, assuming there are still spots available.

This deposit is non-refundable, but should you cancel your reservation 90 days or more before the start of the retreat, you may apply your deposit toward registration for the following year’s Year Long Program.

Payment Method We accept payment by check or credit card (VISA, Mastercard, or AMEX). Deposits and other payments are payable in U.S. currency only.

Payment Terms Payment for your tuition, lodging, and food must be paid in full (if paying by check or credit card) or in twelve monthly payments on the 15th of each month (if paying by recurring credit card payments only). Your first payment is due on the 15th of the month after registration.

Late Payment Fees We must collect your first payment (whether you are paying in full or enrolling in a monthly payment plan) no later than 90 days in advance of the start of the program. If you do not make your first payment within 90 days from Opening Retreat, we will add a 10% late payment fee to your bill.

If you are enrolled in a monthly payment plan and your card declines on the 15th of the month when payments are run, you will be charged a 10% late payment fee.

Cancellation and Refund Policy Because Mindful Schools reserves retreat centers and lodging far in advance of our Opening and Closing Retreats, unfortunately, we cannot give refunds or discounts for late arrivals, early departures, flight cancellations, travel delays, illness, or other unforeseeable circumstances. If you cancel your participation in our Year Long Program for any reason, the cancellation policy below will apply without exception.

If you cancel • 90 days or more prior to the Opening Retreat, you will receive 100% credit of the cost

of tuition toward next year’s Year Long Program. You forfeit all payments made for lodging and meals since we incur these expenses far in advance of the retreat.

• 31-90 days prior to the Opening Retreat, you will receive 50% credit of the cost of tuition toward next year’s Year Long Program and forfeit the remainder. You forfeit

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all payments made for lodging and meals since we incur these expenses far in advance of the retreat. If you are enrolled in a monthly payment plan, you will be responsible for paying your remaining account balance up to 50% of the program cost.

• 0-30 days prior to the Opening Retreat, you will not receive a refund or credit. You forfeit all payments made for lodging and meals since we incur these expenses far in advance of the retreat. If you are enrolled in a monthly payment plan, you will be responsible for your remaining account balance.

If Mindful Schools cancels It is unlikely that Mindful Schools will cancel the Year Long Program for any reason besides unforeseeable circumstances. But in the event that we do, we will refund to you all deposits and payments you have paid. We cannot, however, reimburse you for any other costs (e.g. airfare, travel costs, travel insurance, etc.) you have incurred.

In the unlikely event that a retreat must be cancelled due to unforeseeable circumstances (e.g. extreme weather conditions or natural disaster), we cannot guarantee you a refund for payments made towards lodging for a retreat. Our ability to refund you will be dependent upon our retreat venue’s cancellation and refund policy.

Cancellation of Closing Retreat If you are unable to attend the Closing Retreat for any reason, and notify us 90 days before the

event, you still are responsible for paying for your food/lodging of the retreat. You are consider

doing a deferral to the next year’s Closing Retreat, and would need to pay the retreat

food/lodging fee for that event as well.

Application Timeline We review applications on a rolling basis. Once you’ve submitted your application, please

allow for 3-4 weeks for us to let you know the status of your admittance (for scholarship

applicants, please note that you will not receive status of admittance until February 1, 2016).

Contact Us

If you have questions after reading through these program details, please contact Christina

Costelo, Program Manager, at christina@mindfulschools.org or 510-879-6349.  

 

Ready to apply for the 2016/17 Year-Long Program?

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Submit an Application