The School Climate Domain Assessment Tool is designed to evaluate the breadth and depth of schoolwide initiatives aimed at improving school climate. This comprehensive tool provides guidance for educators and school leaders who are looking for resources to foster a nurturing and productive school atmosphere. It explores the critical aspects of school climate, a multifaceted concept that encompasses the quality of relationships, the effectiveness of teaching and learning practices, and the efficiency of organizational structures. This tool is more than just an assessment instrument; it is a roadmap that helps schools identify areas of strength and opportunities for growth and aims to help schools in their pursuits to ensure that every student has the chance to thrive in a safe, supportive, and engaging learning environment.
Safety and Wellness
California Center for School Climate Youth Public Service Announcements on Student Mental Health and Substance Abuse
Members of the CCSC Youth Advisory Team create public service announcements to share information about student mental health and substance abuse. Click on the videos below to learn about youth perspectives on these important topics. Transcripts for the videos are available.
Mental Health
Aayushi Khatri – What Everyone Should Know About Student Mental Health
Aayushi Khatri shares about the prevalence of mental health challenges among young people and encourages adults to consider how to provide easily accessible mental health resources to students.
Alexa Southall – What Everyone Should Know About Student Mental Health
Alexa Southall encourages a collective approach to supporting mental health, which includes talking openly and reaching out to others who may be struggling.
Aisha Bilgrammi – What Everyone Should Know About Student Mental Health
Aisha Bilgrammi shares her ideas on how schools can create environments where students can access mental health resources and have their emotional wellbeing supported.
Substance Abuse
Colin Do – What Everyone Should Know About Substance Abuse
Colin Do discusses underlying issues that may lead to substance abuse among young people and encourages those who are struggling to seek professional help.
Measuring Student Mental Wellness with the California Healthy Kids Survey
The California Center for School Climate, the California Department of Education, the University of California, San Francisco, and the California School Climate, Health, and Learning Survey (CalSCHLS) System hosted a webinar on using data to understand and address student mental wellness.
Through Project Cal-Well, a federally-funded initiative to promote mental health awareness and wellness among California’s K-12 students, the CalSCHLS System added a Mental Health Supports survey module that is now available to all California schools and districts. This survey module measures students’ perceived stigma related to mental health; mental health help-seeking attitudes and behaviors and perceived barriers; and access to and utilization of mental health services and supports.
This recording provides an overview of the Mental Health Supports survey module. Project Cal-Well partners shared about emergent data that speak to the state of mental health and wellness among California students, and how data are used to address student mental health. Viewers will be guided through the CalSCHLS data dashboards to learn how to access data from their school, district, and/or county about student mental health and mental health supports.
Watch the webinar recording:
View the recording transcript.
View the session resources:
Speakers:
Tom Hanson 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.
Hilva Chan, MSW, is an Education Programs Consultant with the California Department of Education. She has extensive experience managing projects promoting student wellness and resiliency both at the state and local levels, and has managed several federal grants addressing school safety, school climate, and student mental health. She is the project director of Project Cal-Well, a federally-funded mental health project. She is committed to support LEAs in data-driven school climate improvement.
Sara Geierstanger MPH, serves as Evaluation Director with the School Health Evaluation and Research Team at UCSF’s Institute for Health Policy Studies. Sara’s evaluation work focuses on the potential of school health services to improve student physical and mental health and well-being to help them succeed in school and life. Her expertise is in multi-site evaluations, using a mixed methods approach of both qualitative and quantitative methods. Her current projects include a comprehensive evaluation of school health centers in Alameda County, as well as multiple evaluations of school-based behavioral health interventions throughout California.
Samira Soleimanpour, MPH, PhD, is an Associate Professor with the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies at the University of California, San Francisco. She serves as the Principal Investigator of several local and statewide school health research and evaluation projects, including evaluations of the California Department of Education’s Project Cal-Well and Cal-STOP school mental health initiatives and American Rescue Plan-Homeless Children and Youth programming. She is committed to the translation of research and evaluation findings into policies and programs that improve children’s health and educational outcomes, with a particular focus on school-based health centers (SBHCs), school-based mental health services, and community-based participatory research.
Reducing Stress and Trauma by Normalizing School Safety Practices
This recording dives into the idea that school safety is the role of all education partners. Implementing standard best practices that reinforce safety into daily school routines is a key and fundamental component in keeping students and staff safe and in reducing trauma. Ultimately, by empowering students through familiarity with safety-related situations, they are better equipped to make crucial in-the-moment decisions that keep everyone safe.
Watch the session recording:
View the recording transcript
Session resources
- Session Slides
- Best Practice Considerations for Armed Assailant Drills in Schools
- Creating School Active Shooter/Intruder Drills
- Mitigating Psychological Effects of Lockdowns
- Operational Guidance for Implementing the Standard Response Protocol in a K12 Environment
- Talking to Children About Violence: Tips for Families and Educators
- Safe Spaces: Foundations of Trauma-Informed Practice for Educational and Care Settings from the Office of the California Surgeon General (OSG)
Session Speakers:
Jeff Caldwell is a senior lead in school safety in WestEd’s Justice and Prevention Research Center. In this role, he works with state entities and school districts to provide technical assistance and resources related to school safety. He is the former associate director of school safety readiness at the Texas School Safety Center, where he was involved in the creation, implementation, and administration of statewide initiatives for school safety. Jeff has a diverse career in law enforcement, municipal government, and private industry, including roles as a school resource officer, chief of police, city marshal, city administrator, and director of various divisions, including emergency management, code enforcement, and the health department. His experience also includes facilitating professional development and personal growth training. When not working, Jeff enjoys his role as president of the board of directors of the Greater San Marcos Youth Council, as well as hiking, writing, and projects around the house.
Shawna White is a senior lead in school safety in WestEd’s Justice and Prevention Research Center. Dr. White brings a decade of experience leading research and technical assistance projects at local, state, and federal levels. She currently leads projects related to school emergency management and critical incident response, behavioral threat assessment implementation, and general school safety technical assistance. Prior to WestEd, Dr. White served as associate director of research and evaluation at the Texas School Safety Center, where she oversaw research related to behavioral threat assessment, school policing, and health and resilience in schools. She also led program evaluation of all center trainings and events, identifying key successes and opportunities for improvement to better serve school communities. In her free time, she enjoys spending quality time with her two young children, as well as hiking, swimming, reading, and solving puzzles of all varieties.
Session Moderator:
Antoinette Miller (she/her) serves as Technical Assistance Provider for the California Center for School Climate.
Antoinette is also a Program Associate in WestEd’s Resilience and Healthy Schools and Communities area. In this capacity, she provides coaching, technical assistance, and professional learning to schools, districts, and county offices of education. Antoinette’s expertise is grounded in school climate and culture, mindfulness, healing-centered and restorative practices, social emotional learning and diversity, equity, and inclusion. Antoinette comes to WestEd with two decades of knowledge and experience in education, having previously worked as a general and special education teacher, districtwide intervention specialist, and a Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) coordinator. Antoinette is dedicated to supporting the growth and development of all students and adults.
Guided Wellness Break
In this recording, take some time to learn and practice ways to use breath, movement, and more to ground ourselves in the moment and be better able to connect positively with our colleagues, students, and family and community members.
Watch the session recording:
View the recording transcript
Session resources:
- Session Slides
- Employee Assistance Service for Education (EASE) Program, Los Angeles County Office of Education
- Guided Meditation: 2-minute pause (Dr. Emily Hernandez, LACOE)
- Guided Meditation: 4,7,8 Breathing Technique (Dr. Emily Hernandez, LACOE)
- Virtual BeWell Website (from CCSC, WestEd, CDE)
- Greater Good in Education (from the University of California, Berkeley)
- Irvine USD Mindful Mondays
- Resources to reduce stress (from the California Surgeon General)
- Creating a culture of care: A guide for education leaders to develop systems and structures that support educator well-being
Speaker:
Emily Hernandez, Ed.D., LMFT, brings over 25 years of experience working in public education and mental health. Dr. Hernandez is the director of the Employee Assistance Service for Education (EASE) in the Los Angeles County Office of Education. Her professional background includes working directly with schools, families, and communities including school counseling and child welfare and attendance, K-12 administration, clinical mental health, private practice, employee assistance services, and counselor preparation and education. She is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with areas of expertise in working with children, couples and families, educators, victims of violence, trauma, and crisis counseling. As a leader in the field, she has presented locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally and has authored a variety of scholarly work. She has served on multiple organizational leadership advisory and executive boards advocating for the need for mental health services in education in various capacities. She brings a unique lens to working with educators and school systems understanding the importance of bridging the gap towards more access to mental health in prevention and intervention in education. She enjoys spending her personal time with her family and friends doing some of her favorite things like walking her dog, gathering together, camping, hiking, yoga, dancing, painting and reading.
Making Waves: Transforming School Culture through Student Mental Health Clubs
Dive into this workshop on high school mental health clubs, uncovering lessons that prompt a fresh perspective on school mental health strategies. Learn seamless methods to integrate student-led mental health clubs into your school environment, fostering a culture of understanding, connection, and resilience. Explore innovative approaches to secure funding for sustained club support, equipping educators with tools to cultivate a more compassionate and supportive high school community.
Watch the session recording:
View the recording transcript
Session resources
Session Speakers:
Kym Barber has worked in public education for over 25 years, having spent the last 11 years with the Stanislaus County Office of Education, supporting homeless and foster youth education, school safety, PBIS, and programs across the MTSS framework. In her current role as the youth programs coordinator, she has developed a unique collaboration with NAMI On Campus Clubs throughout Stanislaus County High Schools. Kym is a graduate of Chapman University, receiving her bachelor of arts degree in organizational leadership and completing two years of graduate work in education. She is passionate about helping students find their full potential, develop a sense of community, and celebrate their unique abilities. Kym also loves celebrating holidays and has a separate Pinterest board for each one!
Jennifer Baker, M.A., M.Ed., LMFT, is a licensed marriage and family therapist and trainer with over 30 years of experience specializing in family systems, early childhood mental health, suicide prevention, and trauma-informed practices. She has worked in settings from public mental health and private practice to K–12 education. Jennifer is dedicated to supporting student and educator mental health and wellness and applying trauma-informed approaches to education, operating through a framework in which public health, mental health, and education intersect. As a multi-tiered systems of support coordinator at the Stanislaus County Office of Education, she supervises the Project Cal-Well AWARE grant and the Student Behavioral Health Incentive Program while also providing mental health consultation for other projects. She is a member of the California Department of Education Student Mental Health Policy Workgroup and the Statewide Suicide Prevention Partners. She is thrilled that the work she supports aligns with her mission of moving people toward mental well-being through education and the transformative power of a reflective lens. Jennifer loves the summertime, a good book, and cuddling up on the couch with her family and three spoiled cats while watching their favorite shows.
Brittney Clark, Library/Media Clerk, is the sole Library staff at Orestimba High School in Newman, California. She is also one of three advisors for Orestimba’s National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) club, the NAMI Warriors. This club works hard to provide safe spaces for students to talk about mental health, decrease its stigma, and do regular community outreach. She also coordinates the NAMI Needs Shelf, which provides hygiene items and clothing to students in the district, the Apprentice/Career Expo that invites career representatives to the school to talk to students about post-graduation options that may not need a college track, and Red Cross blood drives. In her free time, she is president of her local labor union and spends time lobbying in Sacramento for public education. She is also a full-time student working on her Master’s degree in Counseling/Marriage, Family, and Child Therapy.
Session Moderator:
Kenwyn Derby (she/her) serves as a Technical Assistance Provider for the California Center for School Climate.
As a Senior Research Associate at WestEd, Kenwyn partners with educators, policymakers, and other stakeholders at local and state levels to understand contextualized problems of practice, to prioritize needs, to collect and analyze qualitative and quantitative data, and to apply evidence to increase equity and improve the experience and outcomes of students and others in human service systems. She provides coaching and technical assistance in contexts ranging from schools to cross-sector collaboratives, with an emphasis on supporting those in traditionally underserved communities. Her expertise includes facilitating and managing projects to improve youth well-being and mental health, to ease transitions for students, to reduce chronic absence and school dropout, to increase student and family engagement, and to create and sustain culture change.