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'Kids have to feel like they belong': How a school in San Diego is building trust amid homelessness, abuse and other trauma
Dale Lees works on a classroom assignment with her 2nd grade students at Perkins K-8 school on April 18, 2023, in San Diego. - Nelvin C. Cepeda/The San Diego Union-Tribune/TNS

'Kids have to feel like they belong': How a school in San Diego is building trust amid homelessness, abuse and other trauma

SAN DIEGO -- Every morning before the school day begins at Perkins K-8, there's somebody at the main gate to greet every family walking in. Most days it's the dean of students, Moises Villalpando — his students know him as Mr. V. "Buenos días, mi niña," Villalpando says. "Good morning, Mom." "¿Cómo estás?" Moms pushing strollers with babies accompany their kids to class. Children not 5 feet tall walk to school holding their little siblings' hands. Dads lean in for a fist bump with Villalpando. Kids run, without saying a word, to give him a hug. At Perkins, school staff and volunteers are fight...

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