This school year we’ve established a new partnership with Markham Elementary, located in the heart of Oakland, CA.
Within this partnership, we have expanded our traditional clinical outpatient model, which has primarily been a school-based clinician providing individual and/or group therapy to students, to include a Student Support Assistant that provides behavioral and social emotional push-in support on campus in conjunction with the clinician. Coupling individual therapy with in-class behavioral support has been a very effective holistic approach and has been very well received by our partners. Our clinician and SSA at Markham are our newest Seneca Dream team and they are doing great work!!! Together, they have introduced Seneca, our UE model and our program’s values to the Markham community while building strong collaborative relationships along the way!
We conducted a Mid-Year Partnership survey back in December to hear directly from our Markham leadership and staff on how the new partnership is going thus far and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive! 100% of the school leadership, teachers and school staff who participated agreed or strongly agreed with the survey questions in all areas of professionalism, collaboration, effectiveness, and communication!
“They are very helpful, and the students really enjoy working with them. They are also a great resource for staff.” -Markham staff
“The team has adapted to meet the needs of families/students on our campus. Team is dedicated to student wellness and is an integral part of the school day.” -Markham staff
Creating an inviting space
Within this partnership, we have expanded our traditional clinical outpatient model, which has primarily been a school-based clinician providing individual and/or group therapy to students, to include a Student Support Assistant that provides behavioral and social emotional push-in support on campus in conjunction with the clinician. Coupling individual therapy with in-class behavioral support has been a very effective holistic approach and has been very well received by our partners. Our clinician and SSA at Markham are our newest Seneca Dream team and they are doing great work!!! Together, they have introduced Seneca, our UE model and our program’s values to the Markham community while building strong collaborative relationships along the way!
We conducted a Mid-Year Partnership survey back in December to hear directly from our Markham leadership and staff on how the new partnership is going thus far and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive! 100% of the school leadership, teachers and school staff who participated agreed or strongly agreed with the survey questions in all areas of professionalism, collaboration, effectiveness, and communication!
“They are very helpful, and the students really enjoy working with them. They are also a great resource for staff.” -Markham staff
“The team has adapted to meet the needs of families/students on our campus. Team is dedicated to student wellness and is an integral part of the school day.” -Markham staff
Creating an inviting space
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In UE we believe that “everything speaks” and we strive to create safe therapeutic student spaces that are welcoming and inviting to the community we serve. Students at Markham have named the Seneca portable “The Aquarium” due to its aquatic theme and many have stated that it is their favorite classroom on campus because it’s the most fun! The goal of our staff when they moved in was to create a space in which all of the students feel comfortable in. The Seneca team also wanted to be well integrated into the school community and didn’t want to the students we serve to feel isolated or “othered” so they wanted the Aquarium to be accessible to the whole school community. To accomplish this, the team has worked with Markham’s Principal to implement “Principal treat Fridays” as a school-wide incentive in which students can use their Markham bucks to enter a raffle. Each week, raffle winners get to come hang out in the Seneca Aquarium and have a treat! This is just one illustration of how the Markham Seneca staff have worked to fully integrate and be of service to the entire school community.
It has been so wonderful to see this brand-new school partnership develop and grow so much already this year and we look forward to continued growth and partnership at Markham and throughout OUSD. Shout out to the Markham staff for all of your work to help this first-year partnership develop and flourish!
It has been so wonderful to see this brand-new school partnership develop and grow so much already this year and we look forward to continued growth and partnership at Markham and throughout OUSD. Shout out to the Markham staff for all of your work to help this first-year partnership develop and flourish!
Blog Post By: Tiana Dudley, Director of School Partnerships
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