This paper considers the efficacy of utilizing the elementary school community as a therapeutic support system for children who have experienced severe stressors. Schools are in an advantageous position of recognizing the presence of pathology in children. The school setting is most demanding of all situations in which children generally are involved and a considerable degree of integration is necessary for healthy functioning. The paper presents the cases of four children who have experienced extreme stressors. In case one, the child has experienced the death of a sibling; in case two, there has been a change in custody following divorce; in case three, the child's mother has been incarcerated; and case four is a burn victim. In each of the four cases, the supportive system of the family was disturbed. The paper concludes that in keeping with the mission of schools to develop the whole child, increasing attention will need to be given to the disruptive forces outside the classroom that are stressors in the lives of school children. (Contains 107 references.) (JDM)