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There are many ways a school community works together to keep its students, faculty, and staff safe and supported. Beyond providing the necessary physical infrastructure and training, NVUSD cares for its students through a multifaceted social-emotional framework. This framework helps create an environment where students are seen, known, and cared for. As we near the end of September and suicide awareness month, the importance of being known feels more crucial than ever. Here are a few ways our schools have successfully built on this framework to educate and support students.

Napa High School Counselor Wendy Sommers shared, “In our high school, counseling teams found creative ways to share information on mental health, managing stress, and suicide prevention and provided this content for teachers to use in their classrooms during intervention blocks.” A similar age-appropriate tact was also taken at middle schools during student advisory periods. At that time, counselors and teachers shared ways for students to communicate concerns with trusted adults so resources could be made available before, during, and after a difficult situation. Many NVUSD middle and high schools also hung informative student-centered posters around their campuses, such as the poster you see here. At the elementary level, teachers and counselors helped facilitate mindfulness of emotions lessons that incorporated TOOLBOX resources and then shared additional information with parents in the school newsletter. This work bolstered existing programs such as the BEST (Building Effective Schools Together) program in elementary schools and the Second Step program in elementary and middle schools. 

Together NVUSD’s principals, teachers, nurses, counselors, social workers, and therapists provide our students with a solid social-emotional framework, one with meaningful learning that cascades through grade levels. 

Read about the many ways NVUSD keeps its community safe here.