# data[].attributes.headline
Rotations for logistics presentations worked except the presenters did not get others' information.  For example- Rowdy did not know about the OBB form procedures because he was presenting AP information.  We should set up a time for the presenters to present to each other.

# data[].attributes.subject
Rotations for logistics presentations worked except the presenters did not get others' information.  For example- Rowdy did not know about the OBB form procedures because he was presenting AP information.  We should set up a time for the presenters to present to each other.

# data[].attributes.headline
Early Summer or even Spring. We should set up a calendar meeting with all admin involved an set straight the number and types of duties for teachers.  Some think they have special arrangements and it gets sticky throughout the year.  If we do it in the Spring, it gives those teachers an opportunity to bow out of their EDA before the end of the year if they don't agree with our decision.  For example, Maffei and dance duties, and Place and graduation duties.

# data[].attributes.subject
Early Summer or even Spring. We should set up a calendar meeting with all admin involved an set straight the number and types of duties for teachers.  Some think they have special arrangements and it gets sticky throughout the year.  If we do it in the Spring, it gives those teachers an opportunity to bow out of their EDA before the end of the year if they don't agree with our decision.  For example, Maffei and dance duties, and Place and graduation duties.

# data[].attributes.headline
Observations - schedule all first observations prior to 10/25 or whatever deadline is given by HR- reference WW

# data[].attributes.subject
Observations - schedule all first observations prior to 10/25 or whatever deadline is given by HR- reference WW

# data[].attributes.headline
Only invite targeted students to transition program like it was in the inaugural year (Watkins, Book, Middleton)

# data[].attributes.subject
Only invite targeted students to transition program like it was in the inaugural year (Watkins, Book, Middleton)

# data[].attributes.headline
What is our focus with moving the school forward?  Literacy, Math, AG, Dance, Aviation, AP Seminar. AVID? Conversations to be had around staffing time (Feb./March). 

# data[].attributes.subject
What is our focus with moving the school forward?  Literacy, Math, AG, Dance, Aviation, AP Seminar. AVID? Conversations to be had around staffing time (Feb./March). 

# data[].attributes.body
For enrichment - school wide
Open
Academic
Math Help
Tutoring
Studying
Just topics

# data[].attributes.body
One focus - allow time for deep exploration and application

Too much too quick - disjointed!

# data[].attributes.body
When was this last updated?  What procedures can we clean up and finalize prior to the school year that can be presented in a handbook style for teachers.
Did we ever do this in year's past?  Purpose?  Goals?  Outcomes?
Can duty schedules and various adjusted schedules be made available ahead of time?
early dismissal plans - ironed out instead of game day decisions.
Will we try to see all classes missed? Or just finish up the classes as scheduled and leave when dismissed.

# data[].attributes.body
Set this up over the summer - secure funds as well

# data[].attributes.body
In between sports!  Big audience!
Capitalize on this next year! Whats the big PD that should happen this day! It was also the week grades were closing for Qt 1.

# data[].attributes.body
More inconsistencies with department chairs traveling to HMS to recruit students - i.e. Janet goes for two days to speak to students in November. Is that fair to other departments?

# data[].attributes.body
Worked out well...suggestion
an earlier date - Late October or early November.
After MAP and PARCC scores are available and before course recommendations are handed out

Unfortunately, PARCC scores aren't coming back until at least December.

Follow up learning walk could be coordinated by chairs to set up personalized LW on various days in January. Not necessary to do it all in one day or have it be uniform.

# data[].attributes.body
We are focusing on literacy and making strides...what about math?  How do we incorporate as much whole school buy in to move math along too?
8 mathematical practices school wide
Math Literacy school wide?!
Algebra is for everyone

# data[].attributes.headline
Croft is out on vacation Friday, Sept. 4th, so if we need him for a faculty meeting (Alice or other) it needs to be Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday).

# data[].attributes.subject
Croft is out on vacation Friday, Sept. 4th, so if we need him for a faculty meeting (Alice or other) it needs to be Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday).

# data[].attributes.headline
Need to check in with admin, counselors, and also e-Learning to determine which students did not earn Algebra credit so we don't run into an problem with.

# data[].attributes.subject
Need to check in with admin, counselors, and also e-Learning to determine which students did not earn Algebra credit so we don't run into an problem with.

# data[].attributes.headline
When creating meeting calendar - include FM monday time for test proctor training

# data[].attributes.subject
When creating meeting calendar - include FM monday time for test proctor training

# data[].attributes.headline
Stir up supervision of departments- Joe wants out of English.

# data[].attributes.subject
Stir up supervision of departments- Joe wants out of English.

# data[].attributes.headline
We must fix the calendar issues with athletics and music. There has to be a way to schedule all on different dates to avoid conflicts with students that are both musicians and athletes.

# data[].attributes.subject
We must fix the calendar issues with athletics and music. There has to be a way to schedule all on different dates to avoid conflicts with students that are both musicians and athletes.

# data[].attributes.body
When we think about closing the gap - can another data point be reading level? This could translate to each SE group for each grade level - everyone can support in their content areas and we can pepper in strategies each month for improving reading levels across the board. Is grade 6 reading level really "within normal range" for a 9th grader? What can we do to move all kids forward?

# data[].attributes.headline
Can our key actions be PLCs?  Especially for the teachers who work to close the gap?  

# data[].attributes.subject
Can our key actions be PLCs?  Especially for the teachers who work to close the gap?  

# data[].attributes.body
As we saw during the FM on Jan 6, only a small group of teachers work with these kids...how can we maximize their time and efforts to impact growth in various areas?

# data[].attributes.headline
Probably should have Peggy Kopp at the initial meeting for vertical teaming- the information that she shared at the meeting in January was very meaningful.

# data[].attributes.subject
Probably should have Peggy Kopp at the initial meeting for vertical teaming- the information that she shared at the meeting in January was very meaningful.

# data[].attributes.body
Could all FM time be devoted to Climate and SEL
Could instructional goals be focused more in PLC sessions

# data[].attributes.body
For ILT retreat? Give lollipops thorughout the year???

# data[].attributes.headline
What about a special wed schedule every week.  

# data[].attributes.subject
What about a special wed schedule every week.  

# data[].attributes.body
Like extended HR every Wednesday.  This could be used for study hall, small group climate conversations - time used for any and all supplemental activities that take place.
- Fire Drills
- Grade level meetings
- Assemblies
- Could this time be used for guidance lessons
- Registration

Maybe once a month - we could use a class meeting to offer PLC time for content area teachers?

# data[].attributes.body
Transition kids from grade 9 could be grouped together in an HR.
Maybe this HR could be managed by Guidance - the counselors could each take a day - like rotating HR teacher.

# data[].attributes.body
Is this the best bang for our buck? Data to show this is supporting academic achievement or closing the gap? (although i dont think this was the purpose) Is this affecting our class sizes? Or course offerings?

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.google.com/search?q=teacher+diy+painted+signs&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwjZqf7PkrvnAhWSWN8KHRsPACkQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=teacher+diy+painted+signs&gs_l=img.3...20763.25931..26098...5.0..0.87.1479.30......0....1..gws-wiz-img.......35i39j0i67j0j0i8i30.fGQuzKJt9GA&ei=aRc7XpnRJpKx_QabnoDIAg&bih=578&biw=1280&rlz=1C1GCEB_enUS874US874&safe=active&surl=1#imgrc=feysiihaSEuwdM

# data[].attributes.headline
What about that grade 9 life skills course?

# data[].attributes.subject
What about that grade 9 life skills course?

# data[].attributes.body
Can this be paired with health...be strategically assigned ...
standard honors in fall with note taking skills

# data[].attributes.body
Focus on AP teachers and provide training on "Retrieval Process"
Would love to run teacher PLC on this topic especially in the beginning few weeks of school.  Joe said he is all in for this..but how would this look logistically?
- really like to have 30 people participate
- study will be about 3 months (meet more frequently, then after 3 months meet periodically to support teachers)

Make it Stick - book possibly
providing students who didn't previously have advanced academic; these strategies deferentially influence students wtih lower cogntive capabilities - strong evidence for closing the gap!

AP teachers are finding students do not have the background skills and teachers dont have the efficacy or skills to help students study better. These would be the measurable things. How well they implement learning strategies + how well they can implement them. +++ Connection to AP goals set by Super

# data[].attributes.body
Agenda templates for ILT meeting and department meetings to support
How are you using data to provide instruction for your students?
Teach data protocols
And give ways to support
How does data really change our instruction?

# data[].attributes.body
Each month focus on a different area math, literacy/writing, and SEL

# data[].attributes.body
September - work with department to identify goals
October - meet with AP to discuss goals that connect to SPP - this is place of TDP
Support for each area (Math, Reading, and SEL/Climate)

# data[].attributes.body
This might be a great activity to do with staff - we could then turn key it to do in HR or with our classes the first week of school. Teaching suggestion - fold introduce yourself and pass - or do a snowball toss up.

# data[].attributes.body
Do we need to focus on this as a whole school? Regroup on this topic? Are these still our beliefs? Do they no longer align with the grading policy?

# data[].attributes.body
Come back to equity chart with regard to access to rigor for all students - especially students in the nonwhite subgroup.

# data[].attributes.headline
Continuing with the WAC in addition to Math

# data[].attributes.subject
Continuing with the WAC in addition to Math

# data[].attributes.body
Should we make poster sized versions of the rubric for classrooms.  There are a lot of rooms that could use a boost in decoration. Unless it's Butler, Coburn, or any WL classroom. :)

# data[].attributes.headline
Can we have each department adopt a month and  run special announcements and activities throughout the year? Like OFFICIALLY assign these to departments? We always say that we should "do something for black history month"... but we never do.  Every month has something we can celebrate/draw attention to.

# data[].attributes.subject
Can we have each department adopt a month and  run special announcements and activities throughout the year? Like OFFICIALLY assign these to departments? We always say that we should "do something for black history month"... but we never do.  Every month has something we can celebrate/draw attention to.

# data[].attributes.headline
Can Shellie oversee everything?  Cindy and Emily continue to have issues with Peggy R. last minute team coverage requests.  Also, can teams be scheduled more efficiently?

# data[].attributes.subject
Can Shellie oversee everything?  Cindy and Emily continue to have issues with Peggy R. last minute team coverage requests.  Also, can teams be scheduled more efficiently?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
"Districts that are less resourced might be sharing one psychologist for the entire school district, or one psychologist who is responsible for 3,000 kids," said Kelly Vaillancourt Strobach, policy director for the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP). "When you have these shortage of these professionals, you're really only able to serve those kids who are in extreme crisis."

Absent a national blueprint for helping students cope with mental health conditions, states are scrambling to identify potential prototypes. The BRYT program, which was founded and pioneered in a Boston-area school in 2004 by the nonprofit Brookline Center for Community Mental Health, has emerged as a successful model for helping kids re-enter school after a mental health crisis.* The Brookline Center works with school districts to help them plan and implement BRYT programs, which are staffed by school employees. Although the center doesn't finance programs, it helps schools identify potential sources of funding.

Ninety percent of students in BRYT remain on track to graduate, and their attendance rates have increased from 52 percent before participation to above 80 percent after. The program itself is expanding. BRYT's director, Paul Hyry-Dermith, said 137 schools in Massachusetts now employ the program and pilots are starting to roll out in Rhode Island, New York and New Hampshire. Partnerships are also in the works with school districts in Washington state and Oregon.

At Cambridge Rindge & Latin, an ethnically diverse school that in 2018 sent 82 percent of its graduates to college, the BRYT classroom is tucked at the end of a quiet hallway. Blue parchment covers the fluorescent ceiling lights, showering the space in a balmy azure. A walnut-stained rocking chair with an embroidered cushion that reads "Be Kind" rests in one corner. In another corner, a noise machine beckons for attention before it's soon forgotten.

Eleven students spend one assigned period a day here, where they chat with counselors, prepare for and work on homework assignments with the program's academic liaison, or simply rest and relax. Students are also welcome in the room any time they feel overwhelmed.

"Many of the kids in our program are coming out of a psychiatric hospitalization," said Ashley Sitkin, BRYT clinician/program leader at Rindge & Latin. "Some of the kids haven't been hospitalized but they've missed a lot of school because they've gotten stuck in this avoidance cycle, which is really common for kids who struggle with anxiety and depression."

At Rindge & Latin, Sitkin and her colleague, academic coordinator Nkrumah Jones, disrupt that cycle with a three-to-four-month reintegration plan that includes emotional support and mental care coordination. That includes a clinical diagnosis of students before they enter the program, and constant contact with outside health providers who also provide each student with care. Sitkin and her staff also reach out to parents and keep them informed. Academic coordination is crucial, too. Both BRYT coordinators and teachers acknowledge it is unrealistic to expect students who miss weeks of school to make up all class work, so care coordinators serve as a liaison between student and teacher, indentifying key assignments and ironing out a make-up plan.

Eli, a trans student at Rindge & Latin, began to battle with depression in eighth grade, a condition that worsened the following year when he entered high school. By his sophomore year, therapy and medication proved fruitless. Eli stopped going to school. He checked into a psychiatric hospital, an experience that his mother said replenished Eli's hope and helped him kick his meds. But the thought of returning to school tormented Eli. Unable to walk into the building, he met Sitkin and Jones at the school door before being escorted to the safe space.

"I was dealing with pretty severe anxiety and depression. I would miss school, which would make me more stressed, which meant I would want to miss more school," said Eli. Before participating in BRYT, Eli, now a senior, would attend just three or four classes a day, he said. Gradually, with help from Sitkin, he returned to classes full time. "I was behind on school work before I left, so the academic coordination, having someone else deal with my teachers, was really, really helpful."

At Rindge & Latin, the mental health challenges students contend with have become more severe in recent years. Student suicide is a growing worry. Several students attempted suicide this semester, teachers and staff said. "I had a student today tell me she's feeling very suicidal," said Sitkin.

That's part of a national trend. The suicide rate for children and young adults, ages 10 to 24, rose by 56 percent from 2007 and 2017 and is now the second leading cause of death among teenagers, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. Some 3,000 high school students across the U.S. attempt suicide every day.

Duncan MacLaury, a history teacher in his fourth year at Rindge & Latin, said he often sees students struggling with depression and suicidal ideation. Ibrahim Dagher, who teaches Arabic at the school, also sees the symptoms, though often they are hard to detect.

"I have a student who has been through a very traumatic experience," said Dagher. "She attempted suicide this year, and I had no idea, meaning I saw no signs. She was present in class the day of, so that really shocked me."

Experts point to the increased use of smart phones and social media as the likely culprit for the spike in teen suicide over the last decade. New technology keeps kids in front of screens instead of interacting face-to-face with their peers, they say, which leads to increased isolation. It can also expose them to feelings of insecurity and to cyber harassment and bullying.

Social media helped exacerbate emotional problems for Tashin, 17, a junior at Rindge & Latin. She first started experiencing anxiety after exposure to family violence, but her slide into depression hastened when she was in eighth grade, after students began to bully her online. They would create group chats on Instagram mocking her and then send posts her way. The social bullying continued when Tashin was a sophomore at Rindge & Latin, and she began to miss school. Shortly afterward, she entered a hospital after she began to cut herself.

"That has stayed with me," said Tashin, now a junior and a BRYT alum, of the social media bullying. "A lot of people told me I wouldn't get anywhere in life."

Dorchester, just south of Boston, wallows in hardship. The per capita income is just $26,292, the second lowest in the Boston area, and almost more than $10,000 less than the city average. Just 14 percent of residents hold bachelor's degrees. The 460 students at Boston Arts Academy reflect these economic burdens: Two thirds come from economically disadvantaged families, and one third entered ninth grade reading below grade level.

Students at the Academy, the Boston school system's only public high school for the arts, carry the weight of stress and community violence, said Charmain Jackman, the school's dean of Health & Wellness. Students embody these stressors with increased levels of depression and trauma. Thought disorders like schizophrenia and delusional disorder are also up here, all made worse, said Jackman, by the recent death of a beloved teacher.

That has placed pressure on the school's mental health services, and its Bridge program, which is similar to the BRYT model used at Rindge & Latin. Besides helping students reenter school after mental health-related absences, the program, started in 2014, focuses on what directors call pre-emptive help. If program coordinators notice a student becoming high risk - excessive absences or tardiness -they will intervene.

The dedicated classroom here is tiny, a roughly 12- by 15-foot room crammed with a few 5-foot-long desks and two computers. A tack board welcomes the program's nine participants and helps coordinators keep track of student comings and goings.

Despite its narrow confines, the room served as a home for Dashawn, a senior here, at a time he desperately needed shelter. As a sophomore, Dashawn lost his father. Devastated family members went their separate ways. Dashawn's mother slid into depression, exacerbated by her inability to afford the rent after her husband's death; she moved to Georgia to start a new life. Penniless and alone, Dashawn drifted from friend's house to friend's house. Inevitably, he was asked to leave after a few weeks. He slept in hallways at times.

"Outside it's like, 'Damn, where am I going to sleep tonight?'" said Dashawn, now 19. "Coming to school is the part where, 'OK, you're good for now.'"

Dashawn credits Bridge with giving him a space where he could be vulnerable and let his emotions out. Sarah Nichols, coordinator of the Bridge program, and Jackman helped just by being there and reassuring him he could get through a rough patch in his life, he said. The program also helped him communicate with his teachers and make up assignments. Program coordinators gave him gift cards for food and helped him fill out applications for housing. But they also gave him a space to sit down and gather his thoughts.

"I've had tensions with teachers because they think, 'Oh, you're not working, your quality is not good enough,'" said Dashawn, who now lives with an uncle in a stable setting.

"It's hard to meet these expectations when you're going through a lot outside of school," he said, crediting Bridge with helping him sprout into adulthood. "I'm starting to walk now, and I'm just thankful."

Boston Arts Academy does not have the resources that Rindge & Latin enjoys. Students shuffle through dim corridors. The school's makeshift library spills from one dedicated classroom into an adjacent hallway. Substance abuse is up among students, 90 percent of whom are people of color, mostly Latino and black. Jackman, who said her mornings are filled with "back-to-back" students, described the Academy as an urban school with a lot of stress and few resources.

"Every school personnel I've spoken to have talked about increased stress and anxiety of students in general," said Jackman. "It's relentless right now."

But staff at both schools said one of their biggest frustrations is that, although anxiety is widespread, they only have time for the students with the most acute problems.

"Early intervention is much more effective than waiting until a kid is in a crisis, and that's what happens in a lot of schools that don't have these adequate members of mental health staff," said Vaillancourt Strobach of the National Association of School Psychologists. "There is an entire population of students who really aren't getting the care that they need, or it's putting the responsibility on the community, where there is also a significant shortage."

Sitkin at Rindge & Latin emphasized that BRYT is a short-term stabilization model. She agrees with Vaillancourt Strobach - schools need to be better equipped to help students cope with social-emotional issues when they're younger, before the problems grow. Only focusing on students in crisis is unsustainable, she said.

Sitkin, referring to herself, said, "Ten Ashleys can help 100 more students, but it's not going to solve the problem. But how do we help the majority of students who also have struggles? There is always going to be those students."

But for struggling students like Ava at Rindge & Latin, the help they receive at school can alter the course of their lives.

"BRYT is a miracle worker in a way. I wasn't going to finish high school," said Ava. "It's about getting out of the car. It's about being here and being OK."
*Correction: This sentence has been updated to correct the name of the Brookline Center for Community Mental Health and the number of schools in which it was started. This story about mental health in schools was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for the Hechinger newsletter.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How a Program Can Help Students Re-enter School After a Mental Health Crisis | KQED

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
"Districts that are less resourced might be sharing one psychologist for the entire school district, or one psychologist who is responsible for 3,000 kids," said Kelly Vaillancourt Strobach, policy director for the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP). "When you have these shortage of these professionals, you're really only able to serve those kids who are in extreme crisis."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How Top Teachers Make Student Voice a High Priority

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
That's the message coming from winners of the Milken Educator Awards, an annual contest for the nation's teachers, principals, and other K-12 instructional professionals. For more than three decades, the Milken Family Foundation has recognized educators across the country with the award for excellence in teaching and leadership.