Blog Posts - UNCONDITIONAL EDUCATION

UNCONDITIONAL EDUCATION

School Highlight: Berkeley High School

2/13/2023

Our CEC Teacher and two Mental Health Counselors sharing a meal alongside students!

In celebration of Chinese New Year, eight of our students at Berkeley High School in our CEC program joined one of our teachers and two Mental Health Counselors for a trip to Chinatown in San Francisco! The group shared a meal together, learned about Chinese culture, walked around to enjoy the shops and scenery, and had a blast!

Here are some of what our students had to share about the trip:
“It was special to me because I loved going places with my school community”
"Cool learning about dim sum and Chinese eating etiquette that our teacher taught us."
“It was very beautiful; I liked the varieties of the fortune cookies.”
“I enjoyed hanging out with the teachers and the students and getting the chance to connect around food.”

Thank you to our Berkeley District teachers and our Seneca staff who helped make this enrichment opportunity such a success!

Blog Post Written By: Beth McPhee, Director of School Partnerships

Tier 1 Interventions: Collaborating with School Staff to Support Students’ Mental Health and Wellness

2/6/2023

Clinicians in the Mosaic Outpatient Program provide a range of services to our school sites, students, and their families by utilizing a three-tier model of intervention that includes trainings, workshops, and other support for the broader school community. Working together, we can significantly increase the opportunities for each student to make progress, advance academically, and meet their potential. Our clinicians are regularly asked by our school partners to conduct classroom and staff presentations. These topics include self-care and wellness strategies, as well as understanding mental health diagnoses such as anxiety and depression.

Over the past few years, Amber Keil, one of our Hayward High clinicians, has partnered with one of the school’s science teachers to provide a 50-minute workshop to 9th grade students on the topic of “Understanding Stress, Anxiety, and Procrastination.” Together, they have co-created this presentation to maximize student voice in sharing their experiences managing stress and anxiety. The presentation also allows opportunities to practice coping strategies, including a grounding mindfulness exercise, create a self-care plan, and feel comfortable talking to each other about their stress levels. They discuss time management strategies such as setting timers, taking breaks while completing homework, eliminating notifications for social media apps on their phones, and writing down their homework assignments in their agendas.

Students have expressed that the psychoeducation piece on how stress connects to procrastination was very helpful. This portion of the presentation is filled with visuals on the projector to help students understand the procrastination cycle. Students have shared that they didn’t realize that procrastination was a stress response. They also found it normalizing and validating to hear so many of their classmates feeling the same way, especially after returning to in-person instruction following distance learning.

The presentation wraps up with a reflection time where students identify two time-management practices and one self-care activity they would like to engage in that week. Students complete an exit ticket with feedback on ways to make the presentation more effective, as well as ideas on how they want to continue this conversation within their class moving forward. What an amazing opportunity for students to learn about how procrastination and stress are connected, and identify strategies to support them with managing these experiences!

This is just one example of the many ways clinicians get to provide Tier 1 interventions in our school communities while also strengthening their relationships with school staff they work with. We are so grateful for the collaboration with our teachers and the invitation to discuss mental health and wellness topics with students throughout the year!

Blog Post Written By: Mosaic Outpatient Team

Co-Treatment: A Beneficial Approach to Student Services

1/30/2023

Team work makes the dream work, right? This statement rings true when multi-disciplinary teams work together to support the needs and goals of our students. In Seneca Washington, we have a team of 14 specialists – School Psychologists, Speech and Language Pathologists (SLP), Speech and Language Pathologist Assistants (SLPA) and Occupational Therapists (OT) who work collaboratively together along with school teams to provide special education services and consultation to our partner schools.
If a student receives speech or occupational therapy services on their IEP (Individualized Education Plan), you may see students pulled out of class to work with providers individually or the provider may push in to support the student in the classroom. However, another approach to providing services to students that our team embraces is co-treatment. The American Speech Language Hearing Association (ASHA) states co-treatment is “when practitioners from different professional disciplines can effectively address their treatment goals while the patient is engaged in a single therapy session.” In schools, this could look like the OT and SLP working together simultaneously to target skill building in their respective discipline during a session for an individual or group of students. For example, while working with a student whose IEP goal is increasing their social emotional skills, the session may include a turn taking game. During this activity, the OT is supporting the student with turn-taking, emotional regulation and fine motor skills, while the SLP is supporting the student with peer engagement, sportsmanship, attention to the activity and following directions.
The co-treatment approach may not only benefit the student, but also positively impacts the classroom, school environment and the providers themselves. After asking the Specialists team, here are some of the benefits they experience when co-treating:
Student Benefits

Allows for a student to practice skills working as a team, conversation skills, turn-taking, practicing skills in a social group
Maximizes therapy time (could prevent fatigue or withdrawal, allows student to stay in class more)
More functional for students – in co-treatment sessions students are working on many skills which may increase a higher chance of carryover into other settings
Increased engagement – two professionals allows for more fun and involved therapy sessions (i.e. cooking, crafts, games, community outings, etc.)

Provider Benefits

More opportunities to learn from other professionals – tips, strategies, activity ideas, etc.
Supports in learning flexibility in how to target goals (being able to adapt any activity to work on skill building)
Supports with behavior management
Fun and involved therapy sessions bring joy to providers!

School Benefits

Promotes collaboration and a student-centered approach
Learning from other providers can increase information sharing with other school staff

While the term co-treatment is used with specific disciplines, the idea could also be used with clinicians, behavior specialists, School Psychs, special education teachers and other staff that support student learning and goals. Keep in mind co-treatment may not be appropriate for all students, so check with your school team and asha.org (or your professional organization) for guidance. We have found overwhelming positive feedback on co-treatment, and encourage other teams and professionals to keep this approach in mind when providing services to students.
A big shout out to Kelsey Kircher (SLP), Danielle Farrand (SLP), Devon McNeeley (Lead SLP), Nic Huang (OT) and Nicole Matichuk (Lead OT) for sharing their thoughts on co-treatment and how it can be a beneficial approach for all.

Blog Post Written By: Gini Sanders, Director of Specialized Services

SCHOOL HIGHLIGHT: Learning Without Limits

1/30/2023

This year two of our highest need clients have made significant progress at Learning Without Limits, a K-5 elementary school in Oakland’s Fruitvale District. A big part of this success results from efforts by school staff to center the voice and experience of caregivers in collaborations. The connection between these clients’ progress and efforts to center caregiver voice is not surprising and speaks to the dedication of Seneca and LWL staff to stand by these caregivers through challenging moments, value their feedback regarding how they experience collaboration, adjust interventions and express appreciation to caregivers for their collaboration.

A year ago, one of the clients was demonstrating high risk behaviors in the home and school setting and the caregiver doubted if they could continue caring for them. Additionally, the school team began to question if LWL was the appropriate setting or if the client needed a more structured school placement. Efforts by the client’s SSAs, clinician, teachers and IEP team to support the caregiver’s concerns and needs helped the caregiver tap into their resilience and provide the client disconfirming stance they needed: “I got you, I’m here for you, you’re not going anywhere.” For a client who has already endured multiple placement changes, this means everything and frees the client to participate in after school sports and improve their reading so that they are at grade level!

At the same time last year, our other client also struggled behaviorally in the school setting and the caregiver was constantly contacted to come to the school and take the client home. The caregiver expressed frustration about the school team’s response to their child’s behaviors, the need for the school team to adjust their interventions and their feeling that their input was not welcome. The client’s school team took this feedback to heart to incorporate caregiver’s feedback, increase communication with caregiver about client’s progress and positive behaviors, continually invite caregiver’s input and express appreciation for their collaboration. Currently, the client demonstrates more positive behaviors and is invested in earning positive phone calls home while the caregiver shared they feel their voice matters in collaboration and views LWL as a source of stability for the client as their family experiences transition.

Blog Post Written By: Mark Thibedeau, Clinical Supervisor

STAFF HIGHLIGHT: Luis Cuellar

1/30/2023

Name: Luis Cuellar
Position: Clinical Intervention Specialist
What led you to your current position: I started working at Seneca’s SF Wraparound program in 2009, straight out of college and with no real experience in the mental health field. I enjoyed the work that I was doing with young people, and I was inspired by the training that I received in connecting youth in foster care to their biological relatives, which led me to becoming a Family Finder in SF. From there I went on to become a wraparound supervisor in Santa Clara’s wrap program when it was first getting started, and then a Mobile Response Counselor in San Leandro and Contra Costa counties. I went to grad school in 2014 to complete my MSW and had internships with different agencies in the Bay Area. After grad school I worked in Seneca’s Data and Evaluations department until I decided that I wanted to return to direct care. I had always been interested in working as a therapist at a school and All-In happened to have an opening for a bilingual clinician at my current site – Learning Without Limits in East Oakland. I have enjoyed making connections with kids, families, and staff members here and I’m in the middle of my fifth school year.
What inspires you to do this work: I feel inspired by the relationships I form with kids and families at my school and by watching students grow and be successful. I feel inspired when I can support caregivers in strengthening their relationships with their kids and when I help families move forward through a difficult time. Anytime I feel like I’ve built trust with a person feels meaningful.
What is a recent highlight you’ve experienced in the work or an important lesson you’ve learned in this role: An important lesson that I’ve learned in this role is that it can take time to feel competent as a school therapist. My first couple of years here I was not sure if my work was having an impact and I often wondered if there was more I should be doing because there was always more that needed to be done. Now I have a better understanding of where my role fits into the school (and its limitations) and I feel more at peace doing the best I can within that scope.
Share your life motto or something unique about yourself: I’m a competitive basketball player and have never lost a one on one game to anyone under 10.

SCHOOL HIGHLIGHT: Shirakawa Elementary

1/23/2023

Our School Highlight this week is Shirakawa elementary School which is part of the Franklin McKinley School District. Shirakawa Elementary is a K-8 school which serves a diverse student population majority of whom live in the San Jose area. Our Unconditional Education Partnership with Shirakawa is built on a shared vision to create a safe, supportive, and inclusive learning environment for all students to be successful learners in school and life. Alyssa Roberg is our UE Coach at Shirakawa, and her work is focused on establishing strong Tier 1 practices to build a positive culture and climate and facilitate data-informed coordination of services. In the past two years Alyssa, in collaboration with the school team has implemented many successful initiatives such as Monthly Scavenger Hunts, Kindness week activities, Morning Meetings and Community circles to support the goals of building Positive Student Interactions and increasing a sense of belonging and connectedness at school.

Morning Meetings:
The Unconditional Education model believes that it is important to educate and inspire the whole child – mind, heart, and spirit. To support the social-emotional needs of students we have implemented daily Morning meetings, focused on important values and character traits – such as Gratitude, Respect, Communication and Leadership. Each day the teacher presents the lesson plan and students engage around a classroom activity to discuss and reflect on the trait. After the lesson, students work together on a project to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of the trait and display their work to share with the entire school. The structure of the morning meetings has been valuable for our students as teachers have noticed gains in achievement, motivation, self-esteem, and teamwork. Creating a consistent curriculum around morning meetings school-wide has also helped build common language among students on campus and supporting them in creating a positive mind-set towards life long-learning and growth.

COZY CORNERS in Classrooms:
Another Tier 1 school-wide practice that we have implemented is having a Calming Corner in each classroom – a designated safe space for students to go when they have difficulty focusing and staying on task. Calming corners are a very simple intervention within the classroom where students can practice different coping skills to regain their emotional and physical control. Since the Calming corners are an integrated part of the classroom for all students, it has reduced the amount of time students with high needs spend out of the classroom and promotes a more safe and healthy learning environment. Each calming corner in the classroom includes various sensory materials (sight, smell, touch, sound) that students can choose from and a binder of coping skills with visuals that students can easily access. The implementation of the calming corners universally across classrooms has helped students improve their attention span, emotional regulation, empathy, and cognitive control.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Lessons and Activities:
Many research studies have demonstrated that schools must promote “a sense of closeness” between students and the school community to enhance the development of intellectual growth, academic achievement, and emotional and social maturity. Since many students at Shirakawa come from diverse cultural backgrounds we have implemented school-wide lessons and lunch time activities to increase awareness and support students in building a positive social and cultural identity. Some examples include a presentation on Latinx/Hispanic Heritage Month, Día de los Muertos, and Holidays around the world. Conducting these school-wide lessons has provided students an opportunity for self-exploration and expression, increased sense of belonging and greater attachment to the school community.

In addition to building positive student interactions, our UE coach has also helped establish the Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) meeting to review the social-emotional and behavioral needs for high-risk students and develop targeted goals and interventions. The MDT process has been aiming to reduce the number of students referred for Special Education Assessments and provides prevention and early intervention supports for students to be successful within the general education setting. Overall, it has been a rewarding and successful partnership at Shirakawa, and we are grateful to partner with the staff and students to help create a positive learning environment where all students can thrive and realize their true potential.

Blog Post Written By: Puja Satwani, Director of School Partnerships

Reflections and Intentions: Mid-Year Data Insights

1/23/2023

Ah January, a month for celebration, reflection, and new intentions. Similarly in UE, we spend time this year reflecting on our work through feedback we received from our School Partners on the year so far. Just before the winter break we conducted our Mid-Year Partner Survey, soliciting feedback across our 69 school partnership sites to highlight our successes and, just as important, our areas for growth that will help us to hone our intentions through the end of the year.

We are excited to report participation in our survey across programs was our highest yet from 97% of partner schools with over 600 individual responses!

The Mid-Year Partnership Survey asks our partners how we are doing with components of the UE Model related to Culture and Climate, Direct Services, Progress Reporting and Equity. For students receiving direct services at our school sites, we asked our partners four questions:

If they find the provider(s) of these interventions to be professional and collaborative
If the providers are knowledgeable and skillful in helping teachers to implement classroom interventions to support students receiving this service
If teachers feel well informed about what their students are working on and what growth they are making with Seneca.
If Seneca staff work to collaboratively explore racial identity, historical racism, and implicit/explicit bias and the ways these impact students’ needs and experiences in the classroom.

This year, both questions about staff being Professional and Collaborative and Knowledgeable and Skillful averaged above our goal of 80% at 93% and 86% respectively! We are very excited by these positive responses and that our partners continued to feel supported by their school site teams.

As in past years, data collection and reporting continue to be a program priority (#datatellsastory) and little by little this is an area where, at this mid-year point, we saw an increase to 75%, up from 74% last year and headed towards our goal for the year of at least 80% which we are hopeful to hit in our End of Year Surveys!

Our second, and equally important program priority, is our commitment to equity (#opportunityoveroppression) and to disrupt the ways in which our existing systems create barriers to educational access and opportunity particularly at the intersection of race, economic attainment, and ability status. This is the second year that we have included our question about “working collaboratively to explore racial identity” and we are encouraged that for the second year we have averaged above our goals of 80%. Not only did we meet our goal though but continued to climb, reaching 85%, up from 81% last year.

We know however that there is more to the story than just the numbers and, to get the full picture we also elicit specific feedback and suggestions from our partners on where we can continue to improve practice. Equally important to the many highlights and celebrations we received are the areas for growth that partners ask for in order to recalibrate on our commitments and efforts in support or positive student outcomes. This feedback is crucial to our reflective process and setting our intentions for the remainder of the year. This year, we saw some similar themes emerge across our partners: A) wanting to hear more about goals and progress students are making, B) receive more training and guidance to implement classroom interventions, C) increase small group interventions provided, and D) for more school-wide professional development opportunities provided by Seneca.

“I would just like to know a little more about strategies that the therapist uses with my students, so that I can be sure to implement the same strategies in my classroom.”

“It would be great to get a little more insight on what the student's specific goals are and how they are trying to work towards those. That way, I could better support in the classroom!”

“It would be nice to have group sessions with students because the small groups seem to work well.”

“If possible, it would be great if Seneca therapists can facilitate groups or work in partnership with other therapists to co-facilitate groups.”

“I think Seneca staff could do more training to best support other students in the classroom.”

“More time for PD's presented by Seneca, such as escalation cycle, behaviors, data collection, etc.”

We look forward to hearing from our partners again during our End-of-Year Partnership Survey. While we wait, here are just a few of the incredible highlights shared from the year so far:

“There is a strong partnership between Seneca leadership and the School Admin team. I feel that we are collaborating effectively. A particular strength has been our work around professional development this year for the entire school staff. These have felt impactful.”

“Something that is going well this year with the Seneca partnership is the strong relationships being built between Seneca providers, students, and other staff members. The partnership continues to support school staff members with interventions that have helped students make tremendous progress towards their individual goals.”

“I believe school culture has been positively impacted by our Seneca partnership, specifically I feel like scholar voices have been uplifted by our partnership.”

“Very positive impact on culture. They address myriad aspects of school culture, from students to staff. They are responsive and quick, but also methodical.”

“Student behavior has improved. There has been a shift in the way students respond to conflict. I believe it is due to the structure and support from our Seneca staff working with our school admin.”

“Seneca therapists are always there when a student needs support. There is always a change for the better when Seneca becomes involved with a student.”

“Students begging to get back into the social skills group b/c of the support and growth they experienced there.”

“As staff I feel supported and appreciated through the emails we received every Wednesday. For me it is a way to lift myself up when I have needed it the most. I have been supported in my classroom when I called for support with some students and I have seen staff coming to my classroom with other students and seeing how she engages with them and how she makes an impact on them is always a reminder on how important it is to have our Seneca coach here.”

“I receive regular updates on what skills students are practicing in their sessions so that they can continue to practice these newly learned skills in non-therapeutic contexts.”

“We couldn't have survived without Seneca and their support system a few years back when they first came on campus. Our behavior needs were so intensive. Now behaviors are leveling out thanks to in part the strategies they have taught our students and the support the students receive.”

“The service providers from Seneca with whom I have contact have been exemplary in the care they demonstrate for meeting the needs of the students with whom they work as well as in communicating with me and other staff members about the implementation of strategies for improving service provision to these students.”

“Our clinicians' care for the students is transparent, warm, and consistent. I really feel we are in this together and all our kids are ALL our kids. My students express positive feelings towards our clinicians.”

Blog Post Written By: Jordan Ullman, Assistant Director of Assessment and Evaluation

STAFF HIGHLIGHT: Alyssa Roberg

1/23/2023

Position: Unconditional Education Coach
What led you to your current position: Before starting at Seneca, I was an Education Specialist. It seemed to me that many of the interventions we put in place for the students we worked with who had IEPs would be effective for all students. Why weren’t we normalizing things such as mood checks, taking breaks, focusing on emotions and empathy, and receiving extra support on an academic assignment for all students?! When I saw this Seneca position that focused on broader culture and climate in schools, it felt like the right fit for me.
What inspires you to do this work: Every child should be able to go to their neighborhood public school and feel safe, loved, and valued. Every child should have access to education where they learn not only academics but also how to regulate emotions, utilize coping tools, and the importance of being a kind human. And, every child should have fun at school! I hope I can help create that positive school climate, where all students are taught, loved, and cared for unconditionally.
What is a recent highlight you’ve experienced in the work or an important lesson you’ve learned in this role: Sometimes it’s hard to step back and recognize the broader impact of the work we do in schools; this is something I’m working on celebrating more! One highlight for me this year is school-wide socio/emotional learning. I collaborate with the School Social Worker to create morning meeting lessons for all grades that are focused on SEL and our school’s monthly character traits. At times, this feels like a small drop in the bucket, but when I realize that all students are watching the same videos, doing community building activities, and are engaged in conversations about their emotions and being confident and empathic humans, I can see the positive impact of this work.
Share your life motto: I’ll quote Ted Lasso: “Be curious, not judgmental.” You never know what someone else is going through; I always try to ground myself in curiosity, understanding, and empathy.

STAFF HIGHLIGHT: Katera Green

1/17/2023

Name: Katera Green
Position: Program Assistant for the UE School Based Programs
What led you to your current position: My professional background is mostly in childcare/early childhood education, and I have been collaborating with community outreach organizations since secondary school. As I have spent most of my time working with marginalized communities, I decided in college that I would focus more on those who are the most at-risk in our communities: children. I began working in early childhood education/childcare and have spent the last several years in a school setting. I have worked with kids from Pre-k to collegiate ages acting as an After School teacher, tutor, mentor, academic success coach, and counselor. Knowing that I have aspirations of going to law school in the future, I wanted to switch from in-person childcare to a more administrative role that would allow me to grow professionally and accumulate skills that I could utilize in my future career.
What inspires you to do this work: I have always loved spreading joy and helping others. In my role, I support 4 different programs: West Bay, South Bay, West Coast Connections, and the SpEd program. Knowing that I am able to help members from these amazing programs everyday and hearing all of the exciting stories from peers about their journeys throughout their careers has helped to inspire me to bring my best self to work every day. As I continue to learn in my role, I cannot help but be motivated by the amazing people I have met.
What is a recent highlight you’ve experienced in the work or an important lesson you’ve learned in this role: The most recent highlight was when I supported and attended the winter parties for several of the UE programs. My own programs are spread out a bit and I don’t get to see the others much since I do not support them; it was nice to see everyone in the different spaces and really feel the unique energy that each one has. Each team has helped me to learn an important lesson during my time here at Seneca: Success starts and ends with people. Every staff member I have interacted with at Seneca has always emphasized that growth, success, and understanding will come, but so will some twists and turns that may be unexpected. By helping me to offer myself the grace to navigate these, Seneca has shown me a human-centered approach to teaching and learning that I had rarely experienced at previous workplaces.
Share your life motto or something unique about yourself: My motto in life is a quote by Ayn Rand that says, "The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me.” I love this quote as it allows me to let go of a doubt-centered mindset and to focus on a goal-centered one.

SCHOOL HIGHLIGHT: Cox Academy

1/17/2023

Hi everyone and welcome to the new year! Cox Academy is a PreK-5 school in East Oakland providing rigorous instruction in the core content areas while fostering critical thinking, problem solving and application of learning to prepare students for success in higher education. Cox Academy is a part of the larger Education for Change Public Schools which operate 7 charter schools in the Fruitvale and Elmhurst neighborhoods serving over 3,000 preK-12 students. The staff at Cox Academy are rooted in love and community. I hope to provide concrete examples of what that love, and community looks like on campus.

In December, the school community liaison organized a toy drive allowing every student in the school to get a visit from Santa (a.k.a. Mr. Currie, the school Principal). Each student received a toy to take home for the holidays. That’s right every student at the school was able to receive a gift to take home! The student council also held a fundraiser that sold out twice! This is an example of the community showing up and showing out for the students at Cox Academy.

On the second day back from winter break, school staff were asked to show up as a community once again. Cox Academy experienced a need to transition students’ homes within a short notice, and the staff rallied together for a school wide transition. This transition required staff to quickly communicate with students, and parents centering safety at a time that felt uncertain. I asked Shelby Carroll, a Senior Student Support Assistant at Cox academy to provide a quote related to her experience and this is what Shelby shared, “It’s amazing to see how our school comes together to support the students and staff. Cox Academy is a community that I am proud to be a part of. Being on campus you can feel the connection from the staff with the families. It also brings a source of pride, to see everyone seamlessly pull together in a matter of minutes. To highlight Cox is to highlight unconditional education and support, because that’s what we truly give daily.” Cobra Strong = "Great on our own, best together!"

Blog Post Written By: Davonte Wilson, Behavioral Interventions Supervisor