Students Lead the Way in Schools Built on Kindness, and It’s Catching On

Two students had already taken the lead.

When Counselor Raquel Duberney-Guerrero noticed them in the hallway at John Doedyns Elementary School in San Juan, Texas, they were walking two new siblings from classroom to classroom, pointing things out, explaining where to go, making sure they felt at home.

“I asked what they were doing,” Guerrero recalls.
“They said, ‘Oh, we’re giving them a tour of the school because they’re new here.’”

No one had told them to do it.

That kind of moment doesn’t happen by accident. It grows.

At John Doedyns, a bilingual, dual-language school serving about 400 students just miles from the Mexican border, kindness is part of the daily rhythm. Many students have been there since pre-K. Others arrive midyear as migrant families move through the region. No matter when they come, they’re met the same way—with intention, and increasingly, with instinct.

Each morning, the announcements offer simple challenges: compliment someone, thank someone for something specific, help someone without being asked.

And then, throughout the day, those small prompts take on a life of their own.

“You hear it,” librarian Veronica Frias says. “They’ll tell you, ‘Miss, I love your earrings today,’ or ‘Thank you for opening the door.’ The kids are learning that.”

It shows up at recess, where students notice who’s alone—and go sit with them. In the cafeteria, where someone quietly helps carry a tray. In the hallway, where a door is held open just a second longer.

“It’s not anything that we pushed out there,” Guerrero says. “It’s entirely coming from them.”

That’s the goal.

This year, John Doedyns Elementary was one of 32 schools nationwide to receive the first-ever Kind School Designation from Teach Kindness, a national initiative helping schools build positive, supportive environments by teaching kindness as a skill.

The recognition reflects something educators across the country are increasingly seeing: when students feel safe, connected, and valued, everything else improves—attendance, engagement, learning.

But inside the school, the impact is less about recognition—and more about moments like that hallway tour.

A quiet welcome.
A simple kindness.
A student deciding, on their own, to make someone else feel like they belong.

The Bright Side

Sometimes the most powerful lessons aren’t the ones taught from the front of the classroom—they’re the ones students choose to live out themselves.

More Information

32 schools. 18 states. One commitment to making kindness a daily practice.

The following schools are 2025-26 Kind School Designees:

CALIFORNIA
Saint Francis of Assisi School (Concord)
Hawthorne Elementary School (San Luis Coastal Unified School District)

FLORIDA
Cooper City Elementary School (Broward County Public Schools)
Saint Mark’s Episcopal School (Fort Lauderdale)
Robert Russa Moton Elementary School (Miami-Dade County Public Schools)

GEORGIA
Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School (Atlanta Public Schools)
Howard Middle School (Bibb County School District)
Anita White Carson Middle School (Greene County School District)

ILLINOIS
John Fiske Elementary School (Chicago Public Schools)
John M. Palmer Elementary School (Chicago Public Schools)

INDIANA
H.L. Harshman Middle School (Indianapolis Public Schools)

IOWA
Farnhamville Elementary School (Southeast Valley School District)

KENTUCKY
Carter Traditional Elementary School (Jefferson County Public Schools)
Taylor County Middle School (Taylor County School District)
Walton-Verona Elementary School (Walton-Verona Independent School District)

MISSOURI
Halls Ferry Intermediate School (Ferguson-Florissant School District)
Hollister Early Childhood Center (Hollister R-V School District)

NEW JERSEY
Heights Elementary School (Oakland Public Schools)
Ocean City Intermediate School (Ocean City School District)

NORTH CAROLINA
Allen Jay Elementary School (Guilford County Schools)

OHIO
Ervin Carlisle Elementary School (Delaware City Schools)
Berry Intermediate School (Lebanon City Schools)

OKLAHOMA
Sangre Ridge Elementary School (Stillwater Public Schools)

PENNSYLVANIA
EverGreen Elementary School (Western Wayne School District)

SOUTH CAROLINA
Van Wyck Elementary School (Lancaster County School District)

SOUTH DAKOTA
Hawthorne Elementary School (Sioux Falls School District)

TEXAS
John Doedyns Elementary School (Pharr-San Juan-Alamo ISD)
Rockdale Intermediate School (Rockdale ISD)
Earnest O. Woods Intermediate School (Wills Point ISD)

UTAH
Daybreak School (Jordan School District)
Ensign Elementary School (Salt Lake City School District)

VIRGINIA
Mary G. Porter Traditional School (Prince William County Public Schools)

For more information on each school, visit https://weteachkindness.org/impact/