21CSLA (21st Century California School Leadership Academy)

California’s expansion of Universal Transitional Kindergarten (UTK) represents a major investment in early childhood education, with full implementation expected by 2025–2026 (California School Boards Association, 2023). As classrooms increasingly serve children with diverse developmental and social-emotional needs, trauma-informed practices (TIP) have become essential for supporting student learning and well- being (Chudzik et al., 2025; Whitaker et al., 2019; Williams et al., 2021). Findings from interviews with 21 transitional kindergarten (TK) teachers indicate that TIP are already embedded in daily classroom interactions. Teachers described actively fostering emotional safety, building strong relationships with families, and supporting children’s needs beyond academic instruction. However, these practices are largely sustained through individual teacher effort rather than coordinated system-level support. Teachers reported limited access to sustained professional development, insufficient collaboration with mental health professionals, and experiences of secondary traumatic stress. These findings suggest that while TK teachers are already engaging in trauma-informed work, system-level infrastructure has not yet caught up to classroom realities. Strengthening professional learning systems, interdisciplinary collaboration, and teacher well-being support will be critical for the sustainable implementation of TIP in UTK.