This book was written to inspire a social movement that champions a culture in which connectedness is valued above all-a movement that builds the most important organization of all: the family. As author and contributors, our desire is to win hearts and minds, to inspire people to get back to the basics-to their hearts-to better understand the nature and power of relationships and to connect with each other. ConnectZone.org: Building connectedness in schools is about the need to make a paradigm shift by challenging the status quo and changing many of the policies and practices that exist in our education system. Although educators take great pride in the notion of working together to explore the possibilities for helping children to succeed in school, I have never been more concerned about how disconnected we are from each other. While many educators possess the vision and the drive to build connectedness in their school communities and are making conscious efforts to do so, responses continue to be reactionary, and preventative practices non-relational in nature. While schools are being magnified as social hubs, resulting in powerful learning experiences for students and increased opportunities to strengthen the fabric of community, they are viewed by many as castles with draw bridges-as closed systems with impenetrable walls. Educators are expressing discouragement with the erosion of their social status, and are weighted down with government-created curricula and a system obsessed with getting results.