PLAYERS:
Immediate System: Principle, Teachers, Parents, Students, Speech Pathologist/ Resource Specialist, Psychologist, Counselor.Extended System: Outside Agencies, Counselors, which provide supplemental help to those in need; Representatives of the State and Local Governments, and those from the Sonoma Valley School District.
PROBLEMS THAT ARISE: Behavioral & Emotional problems- School Counselor Learning Disabilities/Placement in Special Education-- School Psychologist.
REFERRAL BY TEACHER OR PARENT: Student Study Team & Immediate System meets to evaluate/define/assess a course of action. --Addresses problems that impede academic progress.
3 POSSIBLE OUTCOMES:
(1)-Class Modification Carried out by teacher in class(2)Counselor Involvement Counselor meets with child to address behavioral/ emotional problems
(3) Formal Assessment School Psych. assesses student to determine if special education is appropriate.
--Any one, or a combination of the above may be used.
--Following (3), formal assessment of the child's abilities and learning style, the Immediate System meets in an individualized Education Plan meeting.
Following this meeting, it will be determined if the child will be best served by...
The school's population is (as noted by Mary-Ann Sacksteader, school counselor) visualized as being divided up into four groups:
Dunbar currently benefits from an $11,000/year (for 3 years) grant from the State of California for the school's version (written and submitted by school counselor Mary Ann Sacksteader) of the Easily Mental Health Initiative.
The "Special Friends Program" as it is called, allows a specially trained student aid to engage in 'non-directed child-play' for '/2 hr. per week with 24 or so specially selected children per year. The child gets to do whatever it is that he or she wants to (draw, paint, play with toys, talk, read etc.) during that time. This allows some low-risk children to be reached that might not otherwise benefit from the school's services.
Parents, teachers and administrators work together at Dunbar in order to help address each child's needs.
Chrysalis: Counseling for Women
707-545-1670 2345 4th St. Santa Rosa
CARE: Child Counseling Center
707-575-91 66 666 7th ST. Santa Rosa
Family & Community Counseling Services
707-545-4551 751 Lombardi Ct. Santa Rosa
Social Advocates for Youth(SAY): <http://pressdemo. com/community/say -prevention/outreach/counseling services>
*Counseling Services- Sonoma County: <http://pressdemocrat.
com/community/ resource/counsel. htm>
-address/phone#/description of a variety of services-
child/youth/family.>
Kaiser: Counseling info, appts., cancellations-- 707-571-4015
Chemical dependency-- 707-571-4599
After hours *707-571-4015
Sonoma County Office of Education: <http:///www.sonoma.k12.ca.us>
Special Education Local Plan Area: <http://www.sonoma/k12.ca.us/Depts/SELPA/selpa_frame.htm>
School Psych Resources Online: <http://www.schoolpsychology.net/>
U.C. Berkeley Education and Psychology Links: <http://www-gse.berkely. edu/program/sp /html/educpsyc_links.html>
The WWW School Psychology Homepage: <http://facpub.stjohns. edu/-orti25/spwww .html>
--Matt Moore