The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the perception of educators that moved away from a traditional learning environment with little movement and high academic stress through the introduction of project-based learning activities noting (a) the perception on behaviors specifically for students, ranging in age from 8 to 17 living in a residential mental health facility, who have encountered adverse childhood experiences, (b) the perceived modifications specifically for this population of students, and (c) the perceived relationship between self-regulation techniques and project-based learning strategies. Data were collected from 1-1 interviews with five participants with Missouri teacher certification ranging in grade levels from elementary to high school working with a total of 175 students, ranging in ages from 8 to 17, within a mental health residential school for children and youth throughout Missouri. Additional data were collected from lesson reflections, lesson plans, behavioral logs, regulation logs, and supplemental data from critical incident reports from classrooms of students with the same background as teacher participants over the last four school years, 2018-22, of teachers who have taught project-based learning units. Interviews, lesson reflections, behavioral logs, regulation logs, and lesson plans were manually coded twice and then coded a third time using electronic coding via NVivo to ensure bias from myself was not present. This study supports using project-based learning activities with students across grade levels from elementary to high school who have encountered adverse childhood experiences. Study findings support the teacher perception that project-based learning activities decrease negative behaviors for students with adverse childhood experiences while increasing engagement, academic skill, and self-regulation. Implications from these findings support that project-based learning activities increase student choice, allowing students within a residential mental health classroom to have control. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]