By Sam Moskow
The Review
Administrators representing all five South Pasadena Unified School District schools advocated for students’ social-emotional learning services at the Board of Education meeting on Nov. 14.
Associate Superintendent of Instructional Services Christiane Gervais, Executive Director of Student Support Services Dennis Lefevre and Program Specialist Nancy Goldstein joined the five principals’ discussion of social-emotional learning services, or SEL services, through the context of TK-12 Multi-Tiered Systems of Support.
MTSS is a nationally recognized framework of evidence-based strategies and practices designed to meet each child’s individual social-emotional needs and strengths. MTSS comprises three tiers: universal, which provides high-quality instruction to all; targeted, which addresses specific skill gaps; and intensive, which offers more frequent and smaller group support.
Each MTSS tier is unique to its education level, fulfilling an SPUSD Strategic Plan objective to provide “developmentally appropriate and aligned services.”
To that end, MTSS begins with concentrating on foundational skills like character development and problem-solving in elementary school.
“We’re here because we know that school is much more than just academics,” Marengo Elementary School Principal Noel Fong said. “It’s really about the children that we are trying to build as they contribute to their community and their school.”
MTSS then shifts to emphasizing competencies within students’ control, supported in middle school, and ultimately aims to enhance self-control and provide added support in health, time management and coping skills during high school.
One SEL objective transcending all education levels is addressing the pandemic-induced, countrywide crisis of chronic absenteeism, educators said.
South Pasadena High School Principal John Eldred champions what he called “the biology of belonging” at SPHS to address chronic absenteeism and other SEL concerns. This approach prioritizes investing time in student interactions to ensure they feel acknowledged, listened to and valued.
That’s why Assistant Principal Vanessa Blackwood individually meets with chronically absent students, aiming to pinpoint the reasons for their absences for better, more targeted interventions.
“We try to be problem solvers together… to allow us to be part of their lives and really worry about them like their own moms and dads,” Blackwood said.
Meanwhile, at South Pasadena Middle School, administrators have offered early access to lunch lines for students with better attendance records to promote overall punctuality. Students with frequent absences may encounter consequences like detention, with exceptions given during the first two periods.
This exception arose from teachers’ concerns that tardiness during these initial periods often stems from family issues rather than the student’s behavior, Principal Cheryl Busick said. It builds on previous efforts, noted Board President Patricia Martinez-Miller, who initially joined the board for two years in 1989.
“This just shows if you stick to it, things finally come true. That is just such good news,” Martinez-Miller said.
SPUSD has considerably increased its SEL services since Lefevre said it first “noticed an increasing need for social, emotional, and behavioral support” for students in 2013.
Early efforts focused on improving intervention services for secondary students and increasing counseling support. Subsequent years involved the implementation of SEL programs such as Train Your Brain, digital citizenship lessons and suicide prevention plans.
Responding to COVID-19, the district proactively addressed escalated social, emotional and behavioral needs post-lockdown. This led to the introduction of a 24/7 mental health referral service, expanded therapeutic support and collaborations with community-based clinics. The evolution encompassed the expansion of the Train Your Brain program, inclusion of specialized support staff at elementary schools and culminated in the introduction of anti-bullying prevention units in the most recent academic year.
“I think you’re on the way to doing great things for a really difficult group of kids,” Board member Karissa Adams said of the middle school program specifically, considering the age group’s tendency to be more challenging.
Despite these successes, administrators acknowledged challenges in balancing SEL and academic needs, as well as securing parental support for their child’s social-emotional needs.
Board member Michele Kipke also raised concerns over parents’ awareness of resources available to them.
“I know there are parents that are struggling and don’t know how to access information or resources,” she said.
Currently, principals typically share SEL resources through announcements and education workshops. As administrators work to streamline this process, Board member Zahir Robb highlighted the annual presentations’ increasing consistency in shared language across school sites.
“Going to this piece of access, I think as a culture is built right, K through 12 … it starts to embed within them,” Robb said.
That culture is already beginning to take shape at Monterey Hills Elementary School. Principal Jessica Zavala recalled an incident where a mother shared her fifth grade son’s inquiry about reporting his elder sibling’s social issues to a staff member at school.
“It brought a smile to my face to know that my students … [are] listening to us and internalizing and actually sharing it at home as well,” Zavala said.
Parents can also anticipate a new telehealth therapy service accessible from home, following the Board’s recent approval of an agreement with K-12 telehealth provider Hazel Health. Implementation awaits the requisite technology infrastructure for counselors to refer to telehealth.
First published in the November 24 print issue of the South Pasadena Review.
