A Message from Superintendent Pero: Pittsford Schools Celebrates “Public Schools Week” by Highlighting New Health and Wellness Initiatives
Pittsford Schools joins school districts and education groups across the country for National “Public Schools Week,” February 24-28, 2020. “Public Schools Week” celebrates our nation’s public schools, our students and the many school professionals who work to help students achieve their greatest potential.
In celebration of “Public Schools Week,” Pittsford Schools has invited medical professionals and staff members from the University of Rochester, Board of Education members, PCSD alumni and staff for a special tour on Friday, February 28, to learn more about the District’s new health and wellness initiatives, which offer greater social-emotional supports for our students.
Over the past several years, PCSD has continued to look at structures through the lens of the District’s core values, mission and vision to determine how to better support our students’ evolving mental health needs. PCSD, similar to the nation, is experiencing greater complexities and increasing numbers of students with social-emotional and behavioral issues.
A fundamental cornerstone of meeting students’ needs is the belief that all staff members have a shared role in supporting our students’ overall mental and behavioral health. This happens through the environment we create, interactions with students and their families, understanding and implementing best practices and, as applicable, following specific intervention plans.
In the past year, we have implemented new structures to better support students’ needs. These changes were made possible in a cost-neutral manner by restructuring/re-assigning staff to better align supports for students.
At the beginning of the 2019-20 school year, the following occurred:
- Health offices now operate with two nurses at each building to better support students’ physical, mental health and wellness needs and provide greater coverage throughout the District. Nurses will also assist with interventions as appropriate.
- Another significant structural change is the increase of social-emotional supports across all levels throughout the District.
- At the elementary level, two additional behavioral specialists were added.
- At the middle levels, one more day per week of counseling support, coupled with additional behavioral support positions were added.
- At the high school level, a full-time school social worker was added.
- We also have additional behavioral supports that are deployed where and when needed, not assigned to a particular school.
With these increases in social-emotional supports, behavior specialists can spend time in classes modeling strategies and practices to help staff be proactive, identify potential behavioral problems as early as possible, assist with deescalating problems as they arise and provide interventions as appropriate.
While behavior specialists will at times be available to assist with a student in crisis, the primary responders will remain the classroom/building staff who are directly involved in the immediate situation. The behavior specialist’s primary responsibility is to work with staff, students and families on methods and plans for overcoming emotional dysregulation that manifests in behaviors that interfere with learning.
As with any new structures, the District will be evaluating them over the course of the year. To date, we have seen a significant positive impact related to the additional support we have been able to provide to our students, staff and families.