California Safe and Supportive Schools

Peer Learning Exchange: Building Engagement and Wellness Through Human Connection

K-12 School District Leaders

Peer Learning Exchange: Building Engagement and Wellness Through Human Connection

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As the second half of the school year gets underway, many students and staff struggle with motivation, self-efficacy, and just showing up. After the winter break, some may come back rested and rejuvenated while others may feel overwhelmed. How can we care for ourselves and others in a way that is manageable, uplifting, and connecting so that students and adults feel supported as part of a community?

Join the California Center for School Climate and other educators to discuss how you can increase connection, and thus well-being, for yourself, team members, and the students you serve. School counselor and family coach Melissa Saunders will ground us in theory and share a specific practice that you can implement immediately—individually or as a school community—to support a struggling student or colleague while improving your own experience at work.

Participants will have the opportunity to gain practical strategies, as well as share their own successes and challenges, in small and large groups with peers from across the state.

Presenting field partner: Melissa Saunders has worked in public education for over 20 years. She started her career as a classroom teacher and has had the opportunity to serve students and families in numerous other roles at both the site and district level as a school counselor, special education liaison, and intervention lead. She has specialized training and expertise in MTSS, PBIS, social–emotional and behavioral interventions, LGBTQ youth, trauma-informed practices, restorative practices, crisis intervention, and mental health. Her professional passion is creating systems and structures to support the needs of all students. Currently, Melissa works part-time as a school counselor and sees clients for family coaching and counseling. You can learn more about her work at: www.melissasaunders.com.

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Digging Deeper Into School Climate Data to Inform Your LCAP

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How might we explore LCAP school climate metrics with more intention? How can we integrate local context? Local context and education partners can help shine a light on strengths and opportunities for growth in your school or district. In this session, we will investigate how to explore your school climate data included in LCAPs and identify ways to dig deeper to understand your data. Anaheim Union High School district will share their journey in engaging educational partners in this process.

Watch the recorded webinar

View the transcript.

View the session resources from this webinar.

Download the slides.

Speakers

Ashley N. Brown, Education Programs Consultant, California Department of Education
Ashley Brown, MEd, serves as an Education Programs Consultant in the Student Achievement and Support Division at the California Department of Education. In this role, Brown works with Local Educational Agencies (LEA) supporting technical assistance for Local Control and Accountability Plans (LCAPs) and supporting County Offices of Education in the differentiated assistance process. She has more than 18 years of experience in education. Brown has served as a teacher in the Peace Corps, a credentialed school counselor, and, most recently, as a district administrator for African American achievement in the San Francisco Unified School District.

Hilva Chan, Education Programs Consultant, California Department of Education
Hilva Chan, MSW, is an Education Programs Consultant with the California Department of Education. Chan has extensive experience managing programs promoting youth resiliency and wellness both at the state and local levels, and she has managed several federal grants addressing school safety, positive school climate, and student mental health. She is currently the program director for two mental health projects, Project Cal-STOP and Project Cal-Well. Chan oversees the California Center for School Climate and the statewide implementation of the California School Climate, Health, and Learning Surveys.

 

Carlos Hernández, Director of Community Schools and Family and Community Engagement, Anaheim Union High School District
Carlos Hernández. In 1999, Carlos Hernández returned to the Anaheim Union High School District (AUHSD) after graduating from University of California, Los Angeles, with a degree in mathematics. From 1999 through 2005, he taught math; facilitated the Mathematical Engineering and Science Achievement (MESA) program; and took on leadership roles such as the Title I program specialist, at Sycamore Junior High School. He also coached baseball and football during those same years. Hernández transitioned to an administrative position in November 2005 when he was hired to be an assistant principal at Savanna High School. In May 2011, he was given the opportunity to become the principal at South Junior High School, where he served until June, 2015. He continued serving his community as the principal of Savanna High School until December 2017.  He was appointed as the director of guidance and student services, and has served as the director of curriculum and instruction, and director of learning and development in the Anaheim Union High School District. Thanks in large part to the work and the advocacy that is taking place with all educational partners, the Anaheim Union High School District has made it a priority to create a full department of Community Schools and Family and Community Engagement, where he is the director.

Roxanna Hernandez, Coordinator of Learning and Development, Anaheim Union High School District

Roxanna Hernandez, EdD. Dr. Roxanna Hernandez has earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology and a master’s degree through the Principal’s Leadership Academy at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). She holds an educational doctorate in educational leadership from the University of Southern California (USC). Dr. Roxanna Hernandez currently serves as the coordinator of learning and development in the Anaheim Union High School District (AUHSD). She served both as an assistant principal and as a principal at Katella High School for seven years. Before she joined AUHSD, Hernandez was the senior program specialist for English language learners (ELL) with the Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE). She began her career in education in the Compton Unified School District where she taught English language development, English language arts, and was named an EL program specialist. During her career in education, Hernandez has provided leadership to ELL programs, led processes to support district and site recognitions, such as the 2019 California Democracy School distinction, 2021 California Civic Engagement Award of Excellence, and the 2022 California Green Ribbon Award. Hernandez has also served as the principal of the AUHSD’s Summer Language Academy, which is a Golden Bell–recognized program. Her work was recognized in 2019 when she was awarded Co-Administrator of Year. In her current position, Hernandez hopes to continue to contribute to the AUHSD mission and vision to, “create a better world through Unlimited You.”

Robert Saldivar, Executive Director of Educational Services, Anaheim Union High School District
Robert Saldivar. After graduating from California State University, Fullerton, in 2001, Robert Saldivar was hired to teach health, Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID), and PE at his alma mater, Anaheim High School. After coaching and teaching at Anaheim High School for eight years, Robert transitioned into administration in hopes of having a greater impact on a larger population of students and families that are from similar communities that he grew up in. Over the next six years, he served first as an assistant principal at Ball Junior High School and then Anaheim High School. Saldivar was given the opportunity to serve as a principal in 2014 at Orangeview Junior High School before being appointed as principal of Anaheim High School in July 2017. Robert took over his alma mater as the first alumnus to become principal of the school in its rich 120-year history. Thanks to a hardworking and dedicated staff and a culture fostered in kindness, compassion, and reflective practices, Anaheim High School over the next five years was able to increase its graduation rate by 15 percent over the next five years, increase its A-G completion rate by 38 percent, and as a result of schoolwide efforts on important matters like civic education and civic engagement, Anaheim High School was also a recipient of accolades like the Civic Learning Award for the 2021/22 school year given by the California State Department of Education. In the summer of 2022, Robert was appointed as the executive director of Educational Services for the Anaheim Union High School District. Saldivar, who started as a teacher and a coach at his alma mater with the hopes of positively impacting students from the same community that he grew up in, now looks forward to the opportunity to have a much larger impact on an entire district that serves thousands of staff, families, and students.

Melinda Wallace, Senior Program Associate, Region 15 Comprehensive Center at WestEd
Melinda Wallace is aSenior Program Associate with the Region 15 Comprehensive Center led by WestEd serving the states of Arizona, California, Nevada, and Utah. She leads work to provide support and assistance to state education agencies and other education entities to improve educational outcomes for all students, close achievement gaps, and improve the quality of instruction. Prior to joining WestEd, Wallace served as a classroom teacher, an instructional coach, a turnaround principal, and a district office administrator in California.

Peer Learning Exchange- Product Deep Dive: Cultivating Caring Relationships at School: 15 Activities that Promote Staff and Student Connection

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Join the California Center for School Climate for a deep dive into an upcoming product, Cultivating Caring Relationships at School: 15 Activities that Promote Staff and Student Connection. Students who have access to caring relationships are more academically engaged, display stronger social skills, and exhibit increased positive behavior. Cultivating trust between adults and students can also heighten students’ motivation. During this Peer Learning Exchange, you’ll get a first look and you’ll hear from the authors and youth contributors to the toolkit. Participants will have the opportunity to gain practical strategies, as well as share their own successes and challenges in supporting relationship building in small and large groups with peers from across the state.

Watch this video to learn about an activity in the toolkit!

View the transcript.

View and download the toolkit.

Boredom: Data-informed Practical Implications for Educators

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“I am so bored” is a sentiment student often express. There is a minimal stigma in making this statement, and many students and adults might say, “Of course, schooling can be boring.” Indeed, tired and bored are the conditions students report experiencing most often at school. How should educators evaluate this expression when they hear it and consider what it could indicate about students’ academic and psychosocial development? This presentation introduces two new California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS) boredom items added in 2021/22 asking students about school boredom and how much value they place in their academic endeavors.

Using the responses of more than 500,000 secondary students, WestEd and the University of California, Santa Barbara will show how “boredom” could provide helpful insights into students’ social and emotional well-being. Practical information and resources to guide conversations with students will be provided at the webinar.

Watch the recorded webinar

View the transcript

View the highlighted resources from this webinar

Download the slides

Presenters: 

Michael Furlong, PhD, is Research Professor/Distinguished Professor Emeritus of School Psychology at the University of California, Santa Barbara (2021/22 UCSB Edward A. Dickson Emeritus Professorship). The National School Mental Health Center awarded him the 2022 School Mental Health Research Award. He provides consultation and support to the California Department of Education and WestEd related to CHKS. A coeditor of the Handbook of Positive Psychology in Schools (2009, 2014, 2022), he collaborates with colleagues on Project Covitality, supporting schools’ efforts to foster all students’ social–emotional development. 

Tom Hanson (he/him) serves as a Senior Advisor for the California Center for School Climate. Tom is a Senior Managing Director at WestEd. He has extensive experience in developing and validating survey instruments designed to measure school climate and other outcomes. He is the Director of the California School Climate, Health, & Learning Survey (CalSCHLS), a comprehensive youth risk-behavior and resilience data-collection service available to all California local education agencies. He has served as a principal investigator of multiple large-scale randomized controlled trials and has been lead methodologist for several studies examining the impacts of education interventions.

What’s New? California Healthy Kids Survey Update

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Join us to learn about changes in the California Healthy Kids Survey designed to be used to support student mental health and wellness. This webinar provides an overview of features of the redesigned survey students and staff will see in 2022–23. We will describe the mental health questions added to the Core module, the new student Behavioral Health and Trauma supplementary modules, and the new staff Trauma-Informed Practice module.

Presenters: 

Tom Hanson (he/him) serves as a Senior Advisor for the California Center for School Climate. Tom is a Senior Managing Director at WestEd. He has extensive experience in developing and validating survey instruments designed to measure school climate and other outcomes. He is the Director of the California School Climate, Health, & Learning Survey (CalSCHLS), a comprehensive youth risk-behavior and resilience data-collection service available to all California local education agencies. He has served as a principal investigator of multiple large-scale randomized controlled trials and has been lead methodologist for several studies examining the impacts of education interventions.

WestEd Research Associate Leslie Poynor is the State Coordinator for the California School Climate, Health, and Learning Survey System, the largest statewide survey of resiliency, protective factors, and risk behaviors in the nation. She provides technical assistance to all levels of education personnel in conducting and using the data from all CalSCHLS surveys in data-driven decision-making, including the California Healthy Kids Survey. She also develops and facilitates professional development and data workshops on creating safe and supportive school climates as well as on the education of the whole child.

Watch the recorded webinar

View the transcript

Download the slides

View resources from this webinar

 

Peer Learning Exchange- Seeking to Understand the Root Causes of Student Absences: The Power of Empathy Interviews

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School climate has a large influence on student well-being and attendance, which in turn affects student outcomes. While chronic absenteeism has been a nationwide issue for as long as it has been measured, this longstanding concern was further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The negative effects of both the pandemic and chronic absenteeism have been especially severe in historically and currently underserved communities and  with students who struggle socially or academically. Examining local attendance data to identify groups of students who are chronically absent is a necessary step in determining who may need support. Whether at a community, school wide, or individual level, we must then do more to understand the many reasons why students may not be attending school regularly. 

 

Marnie Lynch, Senior Director of District and School Support for Solano County Office of Education, will share how her team worked with one school district to conduct empathy interviews with students and school staff to understand root causes of chronic absence within the community. What they learned will help inform the prioritization of tiered supports and improvements in the broader school climate.

Partner: Marnie Lynch, Senior Director of District and School Support, Solano County Office of Education

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