Quincy Public Schools

Student Support Services

Program Improvement Plan

2023– 2024

Maura Papile

Senior Director of Student Support Services

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Mission Statement                                                p. 3

2. Senior Director’s Message                                        p. 4

3. District Improvement Plan Alignment

1. Team Organizational & Alignment Chart                 p. 6
2. Reflection of 2022-2023 Goals                                 p. 7
3. Student Support Services 2023-2024 Goals         p. 12

• Team Name(s), Chairperson, Purpose
• Goals & Action Steps
• Related Professional Development
• Membership and Meeting Dates

IV.    Appendix:                                                           p. 26

• A:  Welcome Back Student Support Newsletter 8-25-23
• B:  McKinney-Vento Statistics for 2022-2023
• C:  Supervisor of Attendance of Statistics 2022-2023
• D:  Open Parachute Usage Snapshot
• E:  NAN Project Program Description
• F:  Atlantic Educator Circle 9-13-23
• G:  Suffolk University Proposal 2023-2024
• H: Walker MOU Proposal
• I:  DOVE MOU

1. Student Support Services Mission Statement

The mission of the Quincy Public Schools’ Student Support Services is to provide a comprehensive program that encourages the development of each student’s academic, career, social and personal growth while maintaining a commitment to supporting individual uniqueness and maximizing human potential.  We encourage a collaborative partnership of administrators, staff, parents and community members to achieve this mission.

We believe that:

• All students can achieve their personal best given proper instruction, access to services, and support which recognizes individual differences and learning styles.
• Student success is accomplished through mutual respect, trust, open communication and personal commitment to succeed.
• Development of the whole person, socially, physically, intellectually and emotionally, is critical to success.
• Our school communities should be inclusive and welcoming to all of our diverse students, families and staff.

2. Student Support Services Senior Director’s Message

Decades of research have demonstrated the effectiveness of Social Emotional Learning for supporting students’ academics, behaviors, mental health, and long-term success. To be most impactful, states, districts, and schools should implement SEL systemically across practices and policies such as curriculum and instruction, extracurricular activities, discipline, student support services, and professional learning. Systemic implementation of SEL: 1) promotes SEL for students, 2) supports adult SEL competencies and capacity building, and 3) aligns SEL efforts across schools, families, and communities. (CASEL: Policy Brief 2021) Further restorative practices and the integration of social emotional learning is a path to positive school climates. The integration of restorative practices and social emotional learning programs creates an opportunity for schools to address issues around race, gender, disability, and other aspects of diversity. These approaches together, become a way to develop students’ SEL skills, which includes communication skills, kindness, empathy, and caring. (Hulvershom, K, Julholland, S. June 2018, Journal of Research in Innovative Teaching & Learning)

Fundamentally as every teacher knows this job of education is a human one. It is about relationships...When teachers are able to prioritize relationships and focus on the quality of their connections with kids, we see over and over again the teachers feeling more effective and the kids being more engaged, learning more and feeling more effective.

-Robert Pianta in Creating Opportunities through Relationships (COR)

In the early fall of 2023, student support staff and teachers will continue to build relationships with students that are inclusive, relationship centered and culturally responsive through Restorative Practices and SEL opportunities at their respective sites. This is a continuation of practice focused on Tier 1 and 2 Restorative Practices and implementing school wide SEL opportunities through Open Parachute.

 The Student Support Teams are striving to create a culture and climate where student well-being and achievement are the focus of all support and interventions.  Social emotional learning is the foundation of which, a thriving learning environment is achieved. Having SEL accessible to all stakeholders in the school community including students, parents, and staff is essential.  Where students and staff are practicing and modeling SEL there is a full integration throughout all parts of the school, from the cafeteria to the hallway to the playground, students have more opportunities to thrive, and school educators are better prepared to help students grow and learn as well as face the many challenges throughout their school experience. “Students thrive when they’re supported by a network of adults who nurture their learning and development. Community organizations and schools can partner to ensure students hear a common message about SEL and have opportunities throughout the day to develop healthy relationships, share their feelings and perspectives, and pursue goals and interests.” (CASEL July 2022)

The Quincy Public Schools was awarded funds during the course of the past two years through two grant opportunities to address social emotional wellness and support student mental health. Grant funds were used to build sustainable and scalable social-emotional, behavioral, and mental health tiered supports for all students, staff, and families. The grant priorities included the implementation of district-wide Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS).  The goal is to build internal capacity within Quincy to implement a multi-tiered framework effectively and efficiently with fidelity to improve meaningful, measurable outcomes for students. Through Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS),Restorative Practices, and SEL opportunities, the Student Support Teams will help the school community move towards the use of inclusive, relationship-centered, and culturally responsive practices to create supportive classroom environments, build strategies for community building that are developmentally appropriate, and cultivate an environment that supports, honors, and acknowledges the cultural assets, contributions, and needs of all students. (CASEL July 2022)

The Student Support Teams have collaborated and formed partnerships with a number organizations and programs such as Collaborative for Academic and Social Emotional Learning, Building Up Youth (BUY): Regional Partnership on Health and Wellness, Walker Therapeutic Programs, Restorative Justice Institute at Suffolk University, the Nan Project, Department of Elementary and Secondary Educations Safe Schools and Open Parachute (video-based SEL program).  Student Support Teams will continue their professional development and support the implementation of these practices and programming with the goal of creating a supportive classroom climate where students feel emotionally safe, part of a community of learners, motivated and challenged. This type of environment creates a strong foundation for students to engage fully and take academic risks (Darling-Hammond et al., 2017). We continue to move the district forward together as a full school community for the best educational experience possible for all.

Senior Director of Student Support Services

III.  District Improvement Plan Alignment

1. Team Organizational & Alignment Chart

b.  Reflection of 2022-2023 Goals

Student Support Services Team Goals:

(1)  The Student Support Restorative Practices & Equity Work Group will analyze high risk data that identifies students at risk system-wide throughout the year ending in June 2023.  The data analysis will provide guidance for a range of multi-tiered interventions systemwide.

* This goal is a continuation goal first set in 2021-2022

Reflection:  Last June, school counselors and psychologists submitted data regarding high-risk reports, and 51A reports. Students continued to struggle with their emotional wellness.  Based on the high-risk data submitted to the Director of Student Support Services there were three times the number of high-risk referral reports in 2021-2022.  This past year the number of high risks continues to be historically high, approximately twenty five percent higher, the number in the previous five years. The continued crisis for the social emotional wellness of students and need for parental support is still paramount.  There was an increased effort for outreach to re-engage students that experienced anxiety, depression, loneliness and disconnection causing mental health crisis, chronic absenteeism and lack of academic achievement.  Clinicians from Walker Therapeutic Programs were based in the majority of sites so that counseling could be accessible for those students needing immediate services.

(2)  The Student Support Restorative Practices & Equity Work Group will provide guidance and support for the following initiatives: Tier 2 Restorative Practices Implementation & Social Emotional Learning Opportunities through Open Parachute by June 2023.  

Reflection:  Student Support Staff Teams along with their principals implemented the Open Parachute SEL platform . This SEL initiative has been implemented district wide.  Primarily the district has ensured that SEL has been available to students on a much broader scale through Open Parachute.  Continued efforts have been focused on Restorative Practices and staff have gained a solid understanding in identifying and explaining the basic principles of restorative practices focusing on the primary principle of community and relationship building.   Student Support Staff then engaged and trained educators at their sites to facilitate community circles for building a sense of belonging and connectedness in schools, particularly in classrooms. During staff professional development at their respective sites, the Student Support Staff presented the new Open Parachute Platform and Restorative Practice to educators for implementation of SEL and Restorative Classroom Community circles.  There was continued support for the implementation of Open Parachute and Restorative Practices throughout the school year.  These supports are an increase in Tier 1 Supports and implementation of Tier II Supports throughout the district.

Elementary, Middle, High School Counselors, Health Educators, Physical Education Educators and School Psychologists Team Goals:                        

(1) Student Support Staff participated in 10 hours of Tier 2 Restorative Practices Professional Development to support the implementation of restorative practices that address harm and conflict at their respective sites by September 2022 through June 2023.         

Reflection: Student Support Staff completed 10 modules of professional development with Suffolk University’s Center for Restorative Justice..  The Student Support Staff at every site created community circles and modeled restorative practices for teachers.  Every Student Support Staff member has been trained and can identify and explain the basic principles of Restorative Practices, focusing on the primary principle of relationships.  The Student Support Staff was able to engage in and train others to facilitate community circles for building a sense of belonging and connectedness in schools, particularly in classrooms. The Student Support Staff created resources and materials for full staff meeting professional development and presentations for Restorative Practices professional development. Staff facilitated restorative interactions where there has been conflict or harm. Staff helped students participate in restorative practices that promoted ownership and accountability. As part of the Restorative process staff collaboratively created action plans for those of whom were impacted and supported all parties.  Tier II Restorative Practices were implemented at each site to repair harm and support students in moving forward in a safe and caring environment.

(2)   The Student Support Staff will review the overview, scope and sequence of the Open Parachute SEL Program and plan for implementation with the District and Site Teams by October 2022.

Reflection: Working within district and site teams, Student Support Staff  identified grade level SEL lessons or topics that were implemented by student support staff  and selected teaching staff that addressed the social-emotional needs of the students, parents, and guardians by January 2023.  The goal for this year is to expand upon the implementation from last year.  The Open Parachute resource was shared within school newsletters and presented at PTO meetings. Although a successful roll-out more work needs to be done in this area so that parent resources are more accessible to parents during the 2023-2024 school year. Each site created Open Parachute timelines for implementation and site staff meeting agendas and presentations focused on familiarizing the staff with Open Parachute lessons and meeting the SEL needs of students.  The Student Support Teams continually assessed the quality and effectiveness of the Open Parachute SEL Platform through ongoing monitoring and evaluation with district and site team members.  The student support teams administered the Open Parachute pre and post assessments for learning and analyzed the data.  The teams also utilized the Open Parachute coaching resources to adjust lessons throughout the school year.  A snapshot of the site usage and samples of the checks for learning can be found in Appendix D.

Supervisors of Attendance Goals:

(1) Supervisors of Attendance will assist sites in early interventions with students that are at high risk of attendance issues during the 2022-2023 academic year.  The interventions will be assessed with the collection of data regarding attendance rates and appropriate educational plans for individual students. * This goal is a continuation goal first set in 2021-2022

Reflection:  The Supervisors of Attendance have identified at risk students by meeting with Student Support Teams and analyzing attendance rates.  Students that were identified last year were targeted for attendance hearings, referrals to Quincy Family Resource, Family Assistance Conferences and referrals for special education services.  The coordinated efforts and early interventions show promise in reducing the number of students with poor attendance. The chronically absent students especially pose a challenge with regard to regular engagement and academic success.  Much like last year, the Supervisors of Attendance created plans to ensure students who have struggled with long-term absences transition back to school.  Many efforts including home visits, referrals to Special Education Teams for emergency meetings, increased number of CRA petitions, crisis evaluations and referrals for Intensive Home Interventions have occurred. The Supervisors of Attendance filed 10 CRA petitions and 3 Failure to Send Petitions.  In addition, 33 Family Assistance Conferences were held throughout the school year. The previous year 2021-2022, 18 Family Assistance Conferences were held. In 2022-2023, the Supervisors of Attendance referred families to the Crisis Team, 14 times due to mental health crises.  In the academic year 2021-2022 there were 6 occasions when families were referred to the Crisis Team by the Supervisor of Attendance.         

(2)  Supervisors of Attendance will assist sites in verifying residency during the 2022-2023 academic year.*                * This goal is a continuation goal first set in 2021-2022

Reflection:  Vigilant monitoring of residency issues continued and students, who did not meet the residency requirement, were transitioned to the appropriate district.  The Supervisors of Attendance  increased the frequency of residency checks in the evening hours. The Supervisors of Attendance worked closely with sites, secretarial and guidance staff as well as with Central Registration to ensure that all students that attend Quincy Public Schools live within the city.  In the academic year 2022-2023, The Supervisors of Attendance completed 581 residency checks, which required 746 home visits.  (See Appendix C)                

Homeless Liaison Goals

(1)  The Homeless Liaison will provide education and training for parents of homeless students regarding the rights of their children under the McKinney-Vento Act and provide parents with educational resources and other resources available to their children.  This goal is ongoing throughout the academic year 2022-2023.

 * This goal is a continuation goal first set in 2021-2022

Reflection:  The homeless liaison provides outreach and educational information for parents.  Students are immediately enrolled in the district and transportation is provided if needed.  Students and parents are given assistance in school supplies and referral information. In the previous school, 2022-2023 year there were 209 students identified as homeless or in foster care.  There were 5 pre-k students, 80 elementary students, 45 middle school students and 79 high school students.   The district anticipates another possible increase in the number of McK-V students to be served in the 2023-2024 (FY24) school years. We anticipate that this increase may occur due to federal emergency rental assistance programs, such as ERAP and ERMA no longer accepting new applications. Although RAFT and the new Homeowner Assistance Fund (HAF) may continue to be available throughout the subsequent school years, the loss of the federal programs will likely result in more homeless families.

(2)  The Homeless Liaison will meet with community agencies and Student Support Staff in order to collaborate regarding resources available to homeless students and their families by November 2022.        

* This goal is a continuation goal first set in 2021-2022

Reflections:  The Homeless Liaison met with over 200 students and their families to ensure that homeless students had access to education and received all necessary referrals and services.  The Homeless Liaison assisted sites in meeting the many and complicated needs of students as they transitioned to Quincy Public Schools or to another district. The Homeless Liaison/Unaccompanied Youth Liaison met with community agencies with regard to shelter placement, services to homeless families through DTA, DCF, Manet Health Center, and Father Bill’s Mainspring to ensure that students and their families received the appropriate support to foster school success.  The Homeless Liaison/Unaccompanied Youth Liaison provided ongoing professional development regarding the needs of homeless students and ways to access services.  

There is a growing trend of unaccompanied youth within the school system.  These students present many complicated transitional issues, as there is no family support system.  Sites utilized the Homeless Liaison to assist with the many needs of the Unaccompanied Youth. As in previous recent school years, the district will continue and increase the emphasis on homelessness prevention strategies during FY24. These strategies include, but are not limited to, referring, and assisting our families/students to available housing assistance, including applying for RAFT, HomeBASE for re-housing or EA shelter diversion, or any other available rental/mortgage assistance. The district has successfully averted homelessness for a multitude of Quincy students/families and worked to help rapidly re-house those who are impacted by homelessness. Working collectively, and extensively, with local and state-wide agencies, such as Fr. Bill’s Mainspring, Quincy Community Action Programs, Metro Housing Boston, and the City of Quincy Constituent Services Department,Quincy families have used diversion strategies, and funding, to either remain housed, be rapidly re-housed, or receive additional housing support.The Homeless Coordinator will also continue to work closely with a multitude of community organizations for additional supports for McK-V students, including, Quincy Community Action Programs, the South Shore Y.M.C.A., Interfaith Social Services, the Sanger Center, the Quincy Family Resource Center, the Germantown Neighborhood Center, Quincy Head Start, Quincy After School Child Care, Inc., the Thomas Crane Public Library (for parent support groups, early childcare, literacy and ESOL offerings), Quincy Recreation Dept., Manet Community Health Care, Southwest Community Health Center, Bay State Mental Health Services, South Shore Mental Health, Health Imperatives, Project Bread, the Quincy/Braintree Family Network, D.O.V.E. (domestic violence), Quincy Workforce Investment Board, Quincy Asian Resources (QARI), Blue Hills Healthy Families, Hope and Comfort, and the Quincy Rotary Club. Representatives from the agencies/groups listed are active, ongoing members of the community groups and/or the advisory groups in which the Coordinator is also a contributing member. (See Appendix B) 

f.  Student Support Services 2023-2024 Goals

TEAM:                Student Support Restorative Practices & Equity Work Group 

CHAIR:        Maura Papile

PURPOSE:        To provide an opportunity for information sharing within the student support services and outward to the school system and parent community.  This team will be responsible for analyzing student data for the purposes of improving student academics, and social emotional health.  This team will also evaluate the department’s performance in achieving the goals of the Student Support Improvement Plan.

GOALS: 

(1)  The Student Support Restorative Practices & Equity Work Group will analyze high risk data that identifies students at risk system-wide throughout the year ending in June 2023.  The data analysis will provide guidance for a range of multi-tiered interventions systemwide. There will be at least one appropriate intervention for each student identified from September 2023-June 2024

* This goal is a continuation goal first set in 2021-2022

(2)  The Student Support Restorative Practices & Equity Work Group will provide guidance and support for the following initiatives: Tier 2 Restorative Practices Implementation & Social Emotional Learning Opportunities through Open Parachute.  A professional development plan will be created by September 2023. (See Related Professional Development) 

*This goal is a continuation from 2022-2023.

Related Professional Development:

TEAM:        Elementary, Middle High School Counselors,                           School Psychologists & Health Interventionists

CHAIR:                Maura Papile 

PURPOSE:        The Student Support Teams will meet to discuss the particular academic, social emotional and health needs of students.  Professional development will be targeted to those needs. 

GOALS:                                                                                

(1) Student Support Staff will participate in staff professional development to promote the use of community circles and work with the site administration to provide Restorative Practices school-wide through at least three sessions with   Suffolk University's Restorative Justice Coaching Program.  This will be ongoing during the school year October 2023 through June 2024.         

(2)   The Student Support Staff will support the implementation of the school-wide Open Parachute SEL Program and plan for implementation with the District and Site Teams by October 2023.  Student Support Staff in collaboration with the administrative staff will provide a timeline for classroom lessons that promote mental health and school success by January 2024.

(3)   The Student Support Staff will participate in a number of professional development sessions with Walker Therapeutic Programs, the Nan Project and coaching sessions with the Restorative Justice Center at Suffolk University to continue to support students within classrooms with social-emotional learning and mental health wellness from September 2023-June 2024 . (See Related Professional Development)

Related Professional Development:

Elementary Student Support Team Membership (Guidance Counselors):

Middle School Student Support Team Membership (Guidance Counselors): 

High School Student Support Team Membership:

Psychologists Team Membership:

TEAM:                Attendance Team

CHAIR:                Maura Papile

ASST. CHAIR:        Jennifer O’Brien, Christine Shah, Jill Greene

PURPOSE:             The Supervisors of Attendance are responsible for enforcing the Massachusetts Laws pertaining to school attendance and residency issues.  There are three Supervisors of Attendance in Quincy Public Schools.  Each Supervisor of Attendance works with school staff, students and families that are struggling with regular attendance issues.  Outreach to these families is done through home visits, court intervention and family conferences as appropriate.  Another major responsibility is verification of residency.  The purpose of this team is to ensure that the goals of the district are being met in accordance with

                               the District Improvement Plan.

GOALS:        

(1)  Supervisors of Attendance will assist sites in early interventions with students that are at high risk of attendance issues during the 2023-2024 academic year.  The interventions will be assessed with the collection of data regarding attendance rates and appropriate educational plans for individual students with the goal of increasing regular attendance by 5%.

 * This goal is a continuation goal first set in 2021-2022

(2)  Supervisors of Attendance will assist sites in verifying residency during the 2023-2024 academic year. * This goal is a continuation goal from 2021-2022

Team Meeting Schedule:

TEAM:                Homeless Liaison Team

CHAIR:                Leslie Bridson, Homeless Liaison

PURPOSE:        To provide an opportunity for information sharing and collaboration with agencies that provide community services for homeless students.  The Homeless Liaison Team will meet to review the enrollment process for homeless students and supporting students that are homeless with attendance and academic success.  The team will revise and review overall programmatic procedures, protocols and practices as appropriate.  This team will also evaluate progress in reaching the department’s goals of the District Improvement Plan.

GOALS:

(1)  The Homeless Liaison will provide education and training for parents of homeless students regarding the rights of their children under the McKinney-Vento Act and provide parents with educational resources and other resources available to their children.  This goal is ongoing throughout the academic year 2023-2024.

*This goal is a continuation from 2021-2022.

(2)  The Homeless Liaison will meet with community agencies and Student Support Staff in order to collaborate regarding resources available to homeless students and their families by November 2023.                         

Related Professional Development:

Appendix A- Student Support Newsletter August 2023

Appendix B-McKinney-Vento 2022-2023 Statistics

Appendix C-Supervisors of Attendance Stats 2022-2023

Appendix D-  Open Parachute Usage Snapshot

Appendix E-NAN Project Program Description

Appendix F-Atlantic Educator Circle 9-13-23 PD

Appendix G: Suffolk University Proposal 2023-2024

Appendix H: Walker Proposal 2023-2024

Appendix I: DOVE MOU