Academic success has become increasingly important in determining future quality of life. Many educational programs and institutions at various levels stress the need for students to score well on standardized tests and other methods of evaluation, in order to demonstrate their knowledge of various concepts and skills. The relationship between emotional health and academic achievement focuses on how the emotional well being of students directly relates to the how well a student performs in school, while also addressing numerous challenges. In particular, this study focused on students with learning disabilities in an urban setting and the daily challenges that they encounter while striving to live and succeed both personally and academically. Students come to school often carrying more than just their backpacks. Issues stemming from violence in their homes or communities, as well as the threat of harm in route to, from, and during school are a regular occurrence. The heightened state of arousal common to youth who grow up around various types of violence and the threat of violence may experience difficulty in cultivating relationships and suffer from lower self-esteem.