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54 LOUISVILLE MAGAZINE 11.17 boy crawls under a chair and hides. e school is on lockdown, blinds drawn, lights in hallways dimmed. Outside, about a half-dozen police offers in bulletproof vests have just left. A drive-by-shooting sus- pect near Cane Run wound up on school property for a brief moment. No kids were outside. No one was hurt. Students didn't even know what happened. But the lockdown alone has left Mattingly with a hyper crew. She's a pro, an enthu- siastic supporter of the project, the literal poster girl for CSP. Look at any brochure or video. She's in it. CSP offers a week- long training session for all CSP teachers and support throughout the year, even offering before-and-after school mindfulness sessions for staff — chair yoga, breathing, silent moments of gratitude. Mattingly, a 37-year-old former kindergarten teacher with brown hair, thin features and a slightly husky voice says teaching CSP is harder than academ- ics. She loves it, but it takes muscle to stay calm and understanding in a class all about calm and understanding, especially on a day when no amount of chimes, music, stretches or breathing leads to focus. "I'm exhausted at the end of the day," she says. Mattingly's in her third year teaching the Compassionate Schools curriculum. e project has been implemented in phases. In 2015, three pilot schools started the project. More schools were added each year leading to this year's total — 24 schools with CSP curriculum, 21 compar- ison schools. As one of three pilot schools, Cane Run lost its funding for the program at the end of last school year. Cane Run's principal, Kim Coslow, decided it must endure. She rearranged how the school allotted time and teachers for art and computers so she could afford two fulltime CSP teachers. Jacob Elementary, another pilot school, eliminated the program after its CSP teach- er retired. Slaughter Elementary, the third pilot school, has formed its own compas- sionate curriculum called Peaceful Experi- ences Around Compassionate Education, or PEACE. While reviewing district data for a few schools involved in CSP, I look at be- havior referrals for the last couple years. While the total number of referrals don't show any dramatic decrease, I spot a few instances of improvements. At Cane Run, for example, the number of times a stu- dent hit a faculty member was cut nearly in half in the 2016-2017 school year when compared to 2015-2016 data. Mattingly and Coslow say data points don't show the full picture. "We have seen a decrease in the number of students who hit crisis. So they have struggles and they get here when they're upset," Coslow says, raising her hand to her forehead. "Now they have coping strategies to get them back down. So that they're not full-blown throwing chairs so that teachers can teach." Coslow also says the number of kids who flee class out of frustration ("runners," she calls them) is dropping. Some opt for a desig- nated "pause place," usually a little square mat where kids are encouraged to take three to five breaths. Sometimes a plastic jar full of glitter water does the trick. Kids shake it vigorously, entranced as the spar- kles drift to the bottom like snow. Coslow turns to Mattingly: "Our little fourth-grade friend has not left the class- room in a couple weeks," she reports. "Wow," Mattingly says, nodding. "Come to your mindful mountain," a young, ponytailed teacher in yoga pants and a CSP T-shirt instructs, standing tall with her hands at her side, palms facing out. It's a rainy Monday morning at McFerran Preparatory Academy, a school that touches both the Old Louisville and Park Hill neighborhoods. Margaret Welp leads 30 fifth-graders through their "mind- ful movements." She bends down. "Push your body out and back for downward dog," she says from an upside-down "V" position. "is looks so wrong," one girl in a skirt mut- ters. Welp has taped boxes around mats to try to keep students contained to their spaces, but limbs cross the borders both intentionally and by accident. "I expect you to attempt," Welp says, keeping her cool, eyeing students who sit motionless. Glenna Hess, an implementation spe- cialist with CSP, leans toward me. "Fifth grade is the toughest grade in elementary school," she says. We're both here to observe CSP at McFerran, an elementary school located next to an electrical sub- station and across the street from a bulky brick warehouse that stores crime scene evidence for Louisville Metro Police. McFerran is one of the last schools added to the CSP project. is is the school's first year with the curriculum. ese fifth-graders came into the year expecting physical education two days a week, not mindful movement, not a classroom lined with black yoga mats, Christmas lights and flower drapes. "It's a shift for our kids to go from traditional PE model to Compassionate Schools," Welp admits. "at was the biggest battle in the beginning, especially with our older kids." For the most part, the 24 schools implementing CSP have fit it into their schedule by eliminating traditional PE. e Compassionate Schools Project meets PE standards because it covers health, self-care and incorporates movement like stretching and games that spike the heart rate. One teacher at Cane Run plays music throughout her class and sneaks in some dance moves. More than kids, Hess says, some for- mer PE teachers have bristled when hand- ed their new compassionate curriculum. "Some of the guys who are coaches were like, 'When am I going to teach basket- ball?'" she says. "e seasoned teachers are the hardest ones to move along." One fresh-faced PE teacher downstairs from Welp teaches CSP in the gym. e papers designating emotions — mad, sad, happy — are posted on bleachers and an overheard projector shows a slide of the seven universal emotions onto a white cinderblock wall, past the basketball hoop. It all feels a bit mismatched. But the PE teacher has earnestly accepted his charge. It's entirely endearing to watch this PE teacher in his gray Nike pants lift his PE teacher whistle and blow that shrill familiar sound, alerting 19 squeal- ing kindergartners that it's time to freeze from their game of tag so they could "find their anchors." "Now they have coping strategies to get them back down. So that they're not full- blown throwing chairs so that teachers can teach."