What has been a highlight of your community engagement experience?

The entire process has been rewarding; however, I received a $5.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education. This grant will allow me to reach approximately 4,500 children per year in the Columbus City School district. The grant will allow me to expand access to mental health services for children in the Columbus City School district by training and hiring 44 preservice school psychologists. The overall goals of this grant are to: a) To increase the number of highly qualified school psychologists to provide mental health services in schools with high need; b) to improve the quality and quantity of mental health services accessed for students in these schools and c) to increase the number of underrepresented school psychologists.

“We want every student to know… you belong here, we want you here, you are a part of our community, and we care for you.” 

This is the mission statement of the Highland ES leadership team, as voiced by Courtney Ryan, full time social worker at Highland. Here, Courtney joins Highland principal Shelley Dime and full time Highland school psychologist Desiree Nutt in a round table discussion mediated by Dr. Danita Thornton, a supervisor of the school psychology program. The group lays out their school’s guiding principles and how they’ve put them into action.  

These three leaders, in coordination with the rest of the Highland team, have instituted a way of doing things that they term ‘Connect, Care, & Repair,’ which is rooted in PBIS, with branches extending into concepts such as trauma informed care and restorative practices. 

The team breaks down the level of need discovered amongst their students and how they have responded. During the 2021-2022 school year, Highland has 183 students receiving tier 2 and tier 3 PBIS interventions. Through seemingly simple practices such as their Morning Meetings, they open lines of communication and gain insight into students’ lives, giving both students and staff an opportunity to decompress - what Shelley calls “a time to be heard and a time to be human.” And they’re not stopping there - Highland has also linked up with a multitude of community partners, putting into motion their plan for every child to have a touchpoint in the community, with 74 students so far connected with outside agencies. The team goes on to discuss their plans for the future, using new strategies such as Zones of Regulation to help kids learn to self-manage within the classroom and minimize any missed learning time – and that’s where the real payoff lies. 

Desiree Nutt, School Psychologist, is assigned to Highland Elementary five days a week, which has allowed her to implement Tier 1-3 programming that has directly impacted over a 100 students at the school.  More importantly, Desiree learned the importance of teamwork through working with the full time counselor, full time social worker, teachers, and administrator.  Planning and coordinating with staff have strengthened the positive impact of the school wide programs.  For more information on the positive impact at Highland go to Desiree's PowerPoint Highland ES Full-Time Psychologist Position.pptx 

--> Keep the conversation going! Click the links below to learn more about the programs mentioned in today’s discussion:  

Girls on the Run

ROX

Let Me Run

Boys & Girls Clubs

Feed the Kids - Columbus

Columbus Parks & Recreation

Signs of Suicide – Nationwide Children’s Hospital

Zones of Regulation

MindUP – Social Emotional Learning

Columbus City Schools is always ready to welcome the next amazing new member to our team! Whether you are an intern learning the ropes or a seasoned veteran with experiences to share, the CCS  family might be the perfect fit to further your professional prowess.   To apply for a school psychologist position at CCS the link to create an account and complete an online application.