School violence and aggression are persistent problems around the world, and unfortunately, our educators and are not prepared to address these chronic issues. In this symposium, we will present empirical findings on school violence from three national projects that span the United States, Chile, and Portugal. These studies attempt to understand patterns of violence among students and teachers. McMahon will describe results from an APA Task Force study of 2,998 United States teachers’ experiences with 11 types of violence by educational level (elementary, middle, and high school). Results indicated that middle and high school teachers were more likely to report property and harassment incidents over the current or past year compared to elementary teachers; whereas, elementary teachers were more likely to report physical aggression. Further, urban teachers, Caucasian teachers, and teachers with fewer years of teaching experience reported higher rates teacher-directed violence. Varela will present a model of school violence among 7,036 students in Chile, from 150 schools, including community violence data from 68 communities, building an HLM model. Results provide evidence connecting violence at the community level with school variables such as school climate and victim and perpetrator of violent behavior among Chilean students across the country. In addition, results indicate a stronger effect for victims than perpetrators, indicating a possible unique pattern of victimization for them. Moreover, all school climate measures were significant, indicating a possible more proximal effect from the school context for urban adolescents in Chile. Ornelas and Vargas-Moniz will present an action-research community-based project focused on contexts with persistent academic retention and drop-out involving the schools, the families and the local communities in Portugal. Zimmerman, our discussant, will derive overarching themes across presentations based on his extensive experience with schools. We will also discuss implications for research, practice, prevention and policy to move the field forward. Discussion questions will include: 1) What are your experiences with violence and violence interventions in schools? 2) How do school context, climate, and culture influence patterns of violence in schools? 3) What strategies have been successful in school systems that you have worked in? This session will examine violence from different perspectives and different contexts, as well as examine commonalities and cultural differences with a goal to better address violence and aggression in schools, improve training for educators, and improve school safety for students, teachers, and administrators.