Dear County and District Superintendents, Charter School Administrators, and School Principals::

The Great Kindness Challenge Week: January 26-30, 2026

The California Department of Education, in partnership with the Great Kindness Challenge (GKC), encourages California school communities to participate in the GKC Week, January 26–30, 2026.

The theme of this year’s challenge is Show Us Your Kind. This theme calls on students, educators, and families to shine a light on kindness—capturing and sharing the powerful ways they bring compassion to life and infuse our world with positivity.

As State Superintendent of Public Instruction, I am committed to moving the needle on student achievement, and that includes sharing resources that help our students build empathy, foster belonging, and thrive. The GKC is one of these powerful initiatives. This global movement promotes kindness, social–emotional well-being, and bullying prevention from Transitional Kindergarten through twelfth grade. Creating a safe, welcoming, and uplifting school environment is a key component of reducing chronic absenteeism as well. I have personally witnessed the incredible impact of this program and the joy it brings to school communities across our state.

The GKC offers free, ready-to-use resources designed to make participation simple, meaningful, and inspiring. Two of these resources are highlighted below:

• The GKC Customizable Checklists and Toolkit for use during the GKC Week. During this powerful, unifying, and uplifting week, students are challenged to complete as many acts of kindness as possible using the age-appropriate, customizable checklists. The GKC also creates a continuum of kindness by offering home connections through a family edition of the checklist. For access to the GKC customizable checklists and toolkit, sign up on the GKC Sign Up Your Class, School, District, or County Office of Education web page at https://thegreatkindnesschallenge.com/signupform.
• The GKC Classroom Curriculum for use year-round. This weekly kindness program features a classroom kindness checklist where each act corresponds with an engaging kindness lesson. The lessons are designed to support social–emotional learning and provide opportunities not only for interaction and reflection but also for fun. Lessons include kindness quotes, interesting facts, physical energizers, and activities to improve students’ well-being and to inspire them to extend kindness out to the world. Learn more by visiting the GKC website at https://thegreatkindnesschallenge.com/.

Last year, more than 4.4 million California students across 7,859 schools participated in the GKC and shared over 222 million acts of kindness. Your leadership made this tremendous impact possible, and I am deeply grateful for your commitment to nurturing a culture of care and respect.

The 2026 GKC Week is the perfect opportunity to kick off schoolwide kindness efforts that can continue throughout the year. Participation is free, and registration provides access to all GKC resources, including checklists, toolkits, and classroom curriculum.

Schools that register and participate will be recognized as a Kindness Certified School and receive a certificate to proudly display on campus.

Together, we can continue to empower students to make kindness, inclusion, and empathy the foundation of every school community.

Thank you for your ongoing dedication to the well-being of California’s youth and for building a brighter, kinder future for all.

Sincerely,