San Carlos Unified School District Update

During this challenging time, our parent educator program has been very involved with working with various community programs and non-profit organizations to provide parents and students with necessary support and resources. Parent educators are the front-line workers of the school district.

During the pandemic, parent educators have been holding classes virtually and have been involved with Success Coaching, as well as working with truancy officers daily, to provide support for parents and students. Parent educators are constantly adding new tools to their tool belt through weekly online training, attending monthly committee meetings with our partners and taking college classes at the San Carlos Apache College. In addition to offering school-site support, each school hosts online classes for parents, the community, and staff.

A shout out to our partner, the Arizona Reservation Ministries organization, which provides uniforms for students once a year to help families who can’t afford them. ARM also holds a backpack drive at the beginning of the year to help families obtain school supplies.

Since 2018, our parent educator program has assisted parents with school issues, family resources, parenting classes, and learning about Apache history, culture, and the pre-reservation lifestyle of the Apache people.

Additional programs include Fatherhood Is Sacred/Motherhood Is Sacred and the Apache Parenting Curriculum, which support responsible parenting, and a twice-weekly lunch program for students and their grandparents. Our program for incarcerated parents is designed to educate and encourage them to take the next step in a positive future.

And our parent educators and district also, of course, continue to participate in and support the SCAT Wellness program, Suicide Prevent Task Force Committee, Forestry Integrated Resource Management Plan Quarterly meeting, Public Health Committe, SCAT Cultural Center Committee, SCAT Language Preservation Committee, and the Diabetes Program.

They say it takes a village to raise a child, and we want to acknowledge each of our our tribal partners, as well as our our parents and extended families, in their roles in raising strong students.

Studies show that Social Emotional Learning practices improve students’ academic performance, behavior, and attendance. SCUSD has focused on developing a strong curriculum based on the practices and recommendations stemming from trauma-informed education research. At a time when the pandemic has forced difficult changes and additional stress on our staff and students, this training has been instrumental in helping us meet this challenge. “Change Agents” have been created throughout the district to train our teachers on what works and how trauma and social/emotional learning needs can best be addressed in our classrooms so our students and staff can succeed. We continue to engage in extensive in-services and training to create programs designed to replace canned behavior with an intensive behavior program focused on the needs of students who are impacted by childhood trauma, from physical and verbal abuse to neglect and family issues involving mental health, abuse, and abandonment.

The District has been participating in a pilot program for distance learning, the Success Coach Program, and is pleased to report that the Arizona Board of Education on Distance Learning has acknowledged our Success Coach implementation as a “Promising Practices.”

Shep Golos, SCHS Care Center Social Worker; Randy Begay, District Family Therapist; and Vickie Asermelly, RES Counselor, served as Lead Success Coaches.

One of the most important roles of the Success Coach is to assess if our students are safe and healthy both physically and emotionally. Success Coaches will promote student well-being by: eating healthy, exercising, getting appropriate sleep (not too much and not too little), encouraging the student to participate in a positive and productive leisure activity. Success Coaches will contact Mr. Golos if they feel a student is unsafe or not well.

Each student in the district gets a success coach who connects with them each week through virtual Zoom talks or phone conferencing. These sessions help students with goal setting and accessing additional resources and support services. Their progress is documented and coaches keep an eye on students’ physical and emotional well being throughout the school year.

SCUD is proud of our coaches and their dedication to this process. Congratulations to our Success Coaches!