California Safe and Supportive Schools

Seeing Every Student: Universal Screening for Wellbeing and Belonging

Audiocast

Seeing Every Student: Universal Screening for Wellbeing and Belonging

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Listen to the audiocast here:

A transcript of the audiocast can be found here.

Chronic absenteeism and low academic achievement are easy to spot, but the anxiety, depression, and weak sense of belonging that often drive them go unnoticed. The CARES Screener, developed by UC Santa Barbara and WestEd and validated with more than 1.2 million California students, is an option for any school or district looking to understand and support the social and emotional wellbeing of all students. In this audiocast, Dr. Erin Dowdy, who supported the creation of CARES, and Baldwin Park Unified, a Los Angeles County district using the screener, share how universal screening can help schools better serve each student.

Participants:

  • Erin Dowdy, UCSB – Professor, Director of UCSB’s Mental Health Collaborative, Ph.D

  • Alicia Fields, Director of Student Services, Baldwin Park Unified

Grounding Community Schooling in a Love Ethic (Oakland Unified School District)

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As a part of Oakland Unified School District’s efforts to implement full-service community schools, the District launched an Office of African American Male Achievement (AAMA) to create structures, programs, and practices that support success for all African American male students in OUSD. In this audiocast, you’ll hear about how AAMA’s King Care program aims to empower “kings” and their families by focusing on academics, literacy, and transformative social–emotional learning.
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Participants:
  • Jerome Gourdine, Director of Targeted Strategies, OUSD
  • Tiago Robinson, Program Manager, AAMA
  • Omoaghe Kevin Akhidenor, Teacher, AAMA
  • Jamal Muhammad, Program Manager / Student Leadership Advisor, AAMA

Creating Empowering, Peer-led Spaces on Campus (Humboldt Independent Practice Association)

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In Humboldt County, the Humboldt Independent Practice Association partnered with 10 school sites to establish school-based wellness centers. Following widespread social isolation due to COVID-19 lockdowns, Humboldt IPA created youth Empowerment Groups, recognizing the role that belonging plays in student wellness. In this audiocast, you’ll hear about the peer mentorship model these groups are based on.

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Participants:

  • Vanessa Vrtiak, School Based Wellness Center Program Director, Humboldt Independent Practice Association
  • Sky, Peer Educator, Sunny Brae Middle School
  • Charlotte, Peer Educator, Arcata High School

A District Blueprint for Holistic Wellness (LAUSD)

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District- and school- based health and wellness programs are an essential strategy for educational equity, as research shows a clear link between health impacts and academic achievements and outcomes. District wellness policies are essential in shaping the health and wellness environments of educational institutions. Wellness policies that support collaboration, implementation, and evaluation lay the foundation for healthy school environments.

The LAUSD Board of Education adopted the Blueprint for Wellness Policy, which guides the district’s implementation of a comprehensive health and wellness plan for students, families, and staff.

Featured Speakers:

  • William Celestine, Director of Wellness Programs
  • Sandra Vaca-Roman, Healthy Start Program Coordinator
  • Maggie Yu-Dipasquale, Wellness Policy Organization Facilitator
  • Maritsa Adkins, Student and Family Resources Navigator

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Creating a Collaborative Classroom Culture (ICEF View Park, Ross Middle School, James Logan High School)

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Studies continue to prove the importance of collaborative learning environments, classrooms have shifted away from emphasizing traditional knowledge transmission principles and toward student-centered learning. Instead of prioritizing lecture-style knowledge dissemination, student- centered classrooms are designed so that students construct skills and understanding through discourse and inquiry. Before students can feel ready to collaborate with and learn from each other in the classroom, teachers must establish a trusting environment and cultivate strong relationships among students that are characterized by mutual respect, openness, and care.

In Part 3 of our educator audiocast series, we spoke to three teachers about creating a collaborative classroom culture:

  • Lavita Jones, Inner City Education Foundation (ICEF) View Park
  • Jim Keating, Ross Middle School
  • Abby Noche, James Logan High School

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The Power of Culturally Responsive, Student-Centered Learning Environments (TRACE Alternative School, Pasadena High School & Marston Middle School)

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Culturally responsive and sustaining education is a pedagogical approach that centers students’ knowledge, experiences, and cultures to promote their engagement and learning. Educators who bring a culturally responsive and sustaining lens to their instruction build on students’ backgrounds as key assets in the classroom to encourage intellectual risk-taking and emotional connection to academic content. A key part of being a culturally responsive and sustaining educator is practicing critical self-awareness.

In Part 2 of our educator audiocast series, we spoke to three teachers about their commitment to culturally responsive and sustaining education:
– Francia Pinillos, TRACE Alternative School
– David Flores, Pasadena High School
– Renee Thomas, Marston Middle School

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