Saira Galindo on SEL Beyond the 20-Minute Block

Every school has an SEL block on the schedule, and most of them have a collective eye roll to go with it. Saira Galindo, Transformative Social Emotional Learning Specialist with Denver Public Schools, has a clear diagnosis for why. SEL got handed to teachers as a prepackaged twenty minutes with no explanation, when it's actually the thing they already do every time they check in with a student, ask a colleague for help, or take a day because they're not showing up as their best self. In this conversation Saira makes the case that until leaders build that culture with the adults in the building, it will never take hold with kids, and she gets specific about how: what she says to a room of skeptical principals, how she reframes "lead with vulnerability" for the secondary teachers who push back hardest, and why the strongest professional learning she runs introduces no new concept at all. Her proof is a district math curriculum she helped rewrite, with SEL in the first five minutes and the last five, where high schoolers who had stopped talking to each other after COVID started talking again and the hard math got easier.

Saira Galindo is a Mexican immigrant, first-generation scholar, educator, and educational leader whose work centers on belonging, equity, culturally responsive education, and social-emotional learning. She spent nearly 14 years with Denver Public Schools, growing from a paraprofessional into a bilingual teacher and Transformative Social-Emotional Learning Instructional Specialist. She has also served as an adjunct professor, preparing future educators to lead with cultural awareness and compassion.

Saira holds a bachelor's degree in Elementary Education from Metropolitan State University of Denver and a master's degree in Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Education from the University of Colorado Denver. She is currently pursuing her Ed.M. in Educational Leadership, Organizations & Entrepreneurship at Harvard Graduate School of Education.

As an immigrant and lifelong advocate for students and communities, Saira is passionate about creating spaces where people feel seen, valued, and empowered to use their voices. Outside of her work, she enjoys music, reading, soccer, concerts, and foodie adventures with her twin sister.

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