Legacy Academy was created by a group of people in Santa Clara County who have a deep understanding of the needs of systems-involved youth. Marc Buller, the founder and CEO, was the Chief Assistant District Attorney who oversaw Juvenile Justice matters in San Jose. The board also includes a former director of Santa Clara County Mental Health, a mental health non-profit CEO, and a few former teachers/school leaders. This group of change-makers saw a lack of supportive middle school environments that could adequately serve students who have had contact with the Juvenile Justice and/or Foster Care systems. Knowing that many of these youth would benefit from therapeutic supports, the board reached out to Seneca and heavily included our approach into their school model. Now, Seneca has the amazing opportunity to work with a dedicated team and co-design a supportive, therapeutic environment for adolescents.
When it comes to implementing our Unconditional Education model, Legacy Academy is a very different kind of campus. The school currently serves only 13 students, and most of them demonstrate at least some level of behavioral and socio-emotional need. So how do we tailor our tiered mental health systems to serve this unique setting? We provide the same quality tier 1 supports, building out Legacy's PBIS system with Power, Purpose and Passion (the 3 P's) as their school-wide expectations. Staff constantly reward students for demonstrating the 3P's by handing out tickets that can be used to purchase items at the school store (snacks, free dress passes, dollar store items, etc). At the tier 2 level, we will be opening our first social skills groups this month. The talented Jacqueline Leong-Abad (also featured in the blog this week!) will be using her knowledge of DBT to support students in building emotional self-regulation skills in a small group setting. With 1.6 clinicians, we have been able to open 7 out of 13 students for Tier 3 services (i.e. individual and family therapy), and we will likely open 3 more in the next month. The 3 remaining students will be receive therapeutic services outside of school. We have a COST system where we can coordinate services and triage emerging needs, but most of the collaboration occurs in tier 3 meetings. Essentially, we have an inverted pyramid where the majority of students receive tier 3 supports.
When it comes to implementing our Unconditional Education model, Legacy Academy is a very different kind of campus. The school currently serves only 13 students, and most of them demonstrate at least some level of behavioral and socio-emotional need. So how do we tailor our tiered mental health systems to serve this unique setting? We provide the same quality tier 1 supports, building out Legacy's PBIS system with Power, Purpose and Passion (the 3 P's) as their school-wide expectations. Staff constantly reward students for demonstrating the 3P's by handing out tickets that can be used to purchase items at the school store (snacks, free dress passes, dollar store items, etc). At the tier 2 level, we will be opening our first social skills groups this month. The talented Jacqueline Leong-Abad (also featured in the blog this week!) will be using her knowledge of DBT to support students in building emotional self-regulation skills in a small group setting. With 1.6 clinicians, we have been able to open 7 out of 13 students for Tier 3 services (i.e. individual and family therapy), and we will likely open 3 more in the next month. The 3 remaining students will be receive therapeutic services outside of school. We have a COST system where we can coordinate services and triage emerging needs, but most of the collaboration occurs in tier 3 meetings. Essentially, we have an inverted pyramid where the majority of students receive tier 3 supports.
As a brand new school and program, we definitely have our work cut out for us down at Legacy Academy. The majority of our students have experienced trauma and around half are in special education. While the needs stand out, so do the personalities. Our students are HILARIOUS. Nicknames are in full effect, and almost every student has one (Jimbo, Shorty, and Mango, just to name a few). The students are currently choosing a mascot, and they meet weekly with our fabulous SSAs, Matthew Kang and Samantha Adamson, to select items for their school store. As you can imagine, student voice is extremely important in this school community, and they have a LOT to say! Are you curious about our all-star program down in San Jose? Reach out to the amazing Jennifer Uribe-Sanchez or another member of our team to set up a visit!
Blog Post Written By: Jonathan Barnett, Director of School Partnerships
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