A Day in the Life Of

Advocating for students throughout the district, school social workers have been instrumental in implementing strategies and assisting students, families and teachers with addressing and eliminating barriers and leading students to success.

As part of the Social Services department’s dedication to fostering the social-emotional well-being of all children and youth, nearly 130 school social workers are impacting the lives of more than 5,000 OCPS students this school year.

Vanessa Eichman has been a school social worker for nearly 20 years. Before joining OCPS, she worked at Johnson Street Global Studies, a K-8 magnet school, in High Point, North Carolina, and as a McKinneyVento School social worker who supported families experiencing homelessness at the K-8 Bruns Academy and Walter G. Byers School in Charlotte, North Carolina.

For the past seven years, Eichman has been mentoring and supporting students at Apopka High, Hungerford and Lake Silver elementary schools. She also has been the lead school social worker of the North Learning Community for four years.

“I have been passionate about working with children since I was in high school and enjoy providing my students and families with guidance and hope for a brighter future,” said Eichman, who received her Bachelor of Social Work and Master of Social Work from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Eichman was honored with the Florida Association of School Social Workers’ School Social Worker of the Year award in October 2021 for her commitment, community involvement, leadership and perseverance.

The Orange Peal staff recently spent the day shadowing her at Lake Silver Elementary in observance of National Social Work Month.

8-8:38 a.m.: Eichman has a mentor/mentee virtual check-in meeting with OCPS School Social Worker Sylvia Revangile. She prepares Revangile for an eligibility meeting and evaluation and provides tips on how to write about interventions in a report. Name: Vanessa Eichman Role: School Social Worker Years with OCPS: 7 Hometown: Rochester, Minnesota

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8:45-9:10 a.m.: Eichman observes a third-grade student in a classroom.

9:15-9:45 a.m.: Eichman has a one-on-one with the third-grade student in her office. They discuss what is going on in the child’s life while coloring and using stress-relief fidget toys.

9:50-10:03 a.m.: Staffing Specialist Robin McCauley meets with Eichman to discuss student absences and tardiness before two home visits.

10:15 a.m.: She departs Lake Silver Elementary for a kindergartener home visit.

10:30-10:40 a.m.: Arrives at the first home. Eichman knocks on the door, but nobody answers. She calls the kindergartener’s mom from her vehicle, but cannot leave a message because the parent’s voicemail is full. She also sends the mom a text, but does not receive a response.

10:40-10:43 a.m.: Eichman calls the dad of two students who are in third and fourth grade to let him know that she will be stopping by to drop off information, homework and activities. She also asks the dad if he is comfortable talking to her in the doorway or by phone because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The dad lets her know she can drop off the school items outside the front door and he can talk to her on the phone.

10:43 a.m.: Departs the first home-visit location.

11-11:08 a.m.: Arrives at the second home. Eichman drops off a blue bucket filled with school information, homework and activities at the front door. She returns to her vehicle and calls the dad. He opens the door and picks up the blue bucket and has a phone conference with Eichman. They discuss the bus pick-up schedule and when the two students will be returning to Lake Silver Elementary.

11:08 a.m.: Departs the second home-visit location.

11:17 a.m.: Arrives back at Lake Silver Elementary.

11:20-11:25 a.m.: Eichman provides Principal Sheila Burke and Registrar Lora Burnett with brief updates on the two home visits during pop-in office visits. 11:30-11:40 a.m.: Eichman returns to her office and has a phone conference with the kindergartener’s aunt from the first home visit.

11:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m.: Eichman eats lunch while she files her two home-visit reports and reviews her evaluation for an upcoming eligibility meeting.

12:22-1:40 p.m.: She participates in a virtual eligibility meeting with the school’s Multidisciplinary team and a mom about her kindergartener’s progress.

1:45-2 p.m.: She walks with a fifth-grade student outdoors during a check-in/mentor session. They both talk about what is going on in the child’s life.

2:10-2:40 p.m.: Eichman has a planning meeting with School Psychologist Peggy Donovan on socialemotional classroom lessons for kindergarteners and first graders.

2:50 p.m.: She departs Lake Silver Elementary for the RBELC.

3:10 p.m.: Arrives at the RBELC.

3:15-3:30 p.m.: Eichman ends her day by picking up OCPS Community Connect information cards and hygiene items from Social Services Senior Administrator Juliane Cross to distribute at a community outreach event at Hungerford Elementary the next week.