Chap 3 E: School Culture and Support for Student Personal, Social-Emotional, and Academic Growth. 

Parents have the opportunity to come to the school to be witness to all the great things happening via Back to School Night and Open House. In the 22-23 both these events will be full in person. Prior to this year because of the pandemic these events had been done virtually. A key component to our dialogue with parents is our weekly updates that are sent to the community on a weekly basis over email, phone call, and text message in order to inform and engage stakeholders in upcoming events and happenings at EHS. This is done via newsletter style email but also weekly videos that are shown in class as well. These videos discuss events, important calendar periods, athletic contests, discussions about our school wide learner outcomes and the Spartan Way. The school's website is also updated regularly with opportunities and events in order to communicate and engage stakeholders in participating. We also use social media, specifically Facebook, to engage with our parents about events but also the learning going on in the classroom and community. We also have a district wide parent communication form which allows us to communicate with multiple groups about events and information important to specific groups. Although parents are engaged in learning, teaching, and decision-making at EHS, it can always be enhanced as we strive to communicate more.

EHS needs to research and reflect on ways to continue engaging more parents systematically and on a regular basis through programming and different opportunities both in-person and virtually.  EHS has been working on expanding community partnerships and engagement through our CTE programs. EUSD has been vital in this development as they have nurtured the relationship with the local tribe.The Yocha Dehe Tribe supports many of the programs in EUSD including the Mental Health Clinicians at all three school sites. They are also a major partner in our ELOP (extended learning opportunity programs) through our Community School grant. Speaking of Community School. In the Spring of 22 EUSD received an implementation grant for Community Schools. This involved the creation of the a Director and Coordinator of Community Schools. One of the pillars of Community Schools is parent engagement. Teachers also invite guest speakers from industries that relate to their field and curriculum. This mostly happens in the CTE programs and respective industry sectors but also through Social Science classes who have a relationship with a lawyer firm and Baseball coaches who have invited former MLB players. 

Classified staff also are important in community engagement as they are tied in with the Esparto community. For example, our custodian and campus supervisor are heavily supportive of the EL and Migrant Ed community. EHS is always to further opportunities of community partnerships for internships and other engagement opportunities. The school counselor has worked on scheduling the ASVAB administration on site in the Fall of 2022 for any student interested. The school currently does not use follow-up studies of graduates and others to learn more about the effectiveness of the curricular program and recognizes that this is an area of growth and of importance in order to assess its curricular offerings for students to be college and career ready. We do however administer a graduate survey which gives us an idea of post high school plans. This information is also used in the completion of our CTE Completer data. EHS is looking forward to continuing to expand these partnerships and opportunities with community stakeholders to make learning increasingly engaging, relevant, and meaningful for students to be college, career, and life ready.

Our PBIS team also meets regularly to discuss school wide trends and address safety concerns through the PBIS framework. Student, staff, and campus safety and cleanliness is essential at EHS now more than ever with the pandemic. Our custodian follows specific procedures to ensure we are compliant. Additionally, the district has protocols and a decision tree in place, that is updated in partnership with Yolo County and the California Department of Public Health, in the case of stakeholder exposure to COVID-19. 

As EUSD is now a 1:1 district for Chromebooks, internet safety has been set up across the district to ensure students are safe when using the internet through things like firewalls and certain sites being blocked. Teachers can also use GoGuardian to help mitigate issues in the classroom when students are using Chromebooks.  EHS leadership team, staff, students, and parents review our safety protocols and procedures regularly with each other and the district in order to ensure EHS remains a safe, clean, and orderly place that nurtures learning and student success.  

Esparto High School has created a culture of care, concern, and high expectations for all students in an environment that honors individual differences, social emotional needs, and is conducive to learning. With the school's staff and student population being small, staff get to know every student. This is why in the Spring of 22 staff began on the revision of our mission statement and revised our vision with the creation of school wide learner outcomes. The school district also provides a brunch after the start of school to provide extra fuel. The support team also meets bi monthly to discuss individual student concerns and creates action plans to better support students academically, with attendance, behaviorally, and/or social emotionally. The PBIS team at EHS meets on a monthly basis to analyze and address trends to better support students school wide and individually. With data, the PBIS team created incentives and then went to the rest of the staff to develop stronger plans to promote positive behavior. Additionally, during our weekly PLC meetings there is also time to discuss schoolwide expectations and discuss how to improve culture and behavior at EHS. We also offer opportunities for students to engage in clubs and sports teams. We have  football, volleyball, cheerleading, and cross country in the fall. In the winter we offer wrestling, basketball, and soccer teams. In the spring we have golf, softball, and baseball.  In terms of clubs we offer: Culinary Arts Club, Early Academic Outreach Program, FFA, National Honor Society, Spanish Club, and JSA. We are growing in providing student voice through ASB and our newly created Link Crew Club. Our Link Crew also provides a vital role in our PBIS program. EHS has a caring staff to support students and is encouraged to continue refining and creating systems in order to better support all students both individually and collectively, as well as continue to grow student voice and choice in the process of supporting students. 

EHS has a collective culture in which staff work has continued and been focused on since our last self study around multi-tiered approaches to student support focused on learning and emotional needs of all students. For example, in the Fall of 21 the staff made a collective decision to revise the previous behavior matrix that was created. The previous matrix was created during COVID with a previous administrator and many members no longer at the school. Interesting enough what came out of this process was a revised behavior matrix but also a new mission statement and the creation of schoolwide learner outcomes. The PBIS team has taken the initiative in using data and trends to help support common mini lessons around addressing common issues and supporting students' social emotional needs and well-being. There are many incentives, like Thank You cards, Cookie Grams, Student of the Month, and most recently Sparty Bucks. Students that are in need of additional individual supports for example are provided with one-on-one direct services with our support team and outside agencies and organizations like Empower Yolo and RISE. EHS staff use a wide range of measures and indicators to determine student success and celebrate success. These indicators include academic improvement, reduction in suspension, positive attendance, student engagements, and more. Being a small school, of both students and staff, means that staff get to truly know students by name and need. The high level of communication between staff members and students and staff means that they can express concerns and interest to a number of caring and safe adults on staff including teachers, the campus monitor, paraeducators, mental health clinician, counselor, secretary, custodians, and principal. As mentioned above, bi-monthly support team meetings, SSTs, IEP meetings, 504 Plan meetings,  parent meetings, and more provide staff and stakeholders the opportunity to review data and create additional support for individual students. EHS staff believe that in order to continue supporting all students instructionally and socially emotionally through a multi-tiered support approach, assessment of our current systems and the continued use of data to determine how to support students collectively and individually. EHS also looks forward to continuing to implement common plans and practices in all classes to support students. 

At the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year, EHS staff reviewed its current tiered supports through an evaluation of the PBIS program. Throughout the 21-22 and 22-23 school year, this occurred as well. Ensuring that appropriate, relevant, and impactful supports are in place as students return to in-person learning is essential. The site's PBIS team also assessed EHS's PBIS framework and supports during the Fall of 21 and 21-22 school year through the Tiered Fidelity Inventory. During the 21-22 school year, the support team also refined student support meetings that take place to create a structured protocol for case conferencing with an action plan in place to guide all members of the meeting in the process. An opportunity was also given for staff to give feedback prior to certain meetings like SST, 504, and IEP. As previously mentioned, the next step in the process will be for staff to collectively assess the effectiveness of our multi-tiered support system. Continued work in common instructional and social emotional practices in all classrooms will support all students academically and social emotionally. In order for this to happen, the implementation of a common tool to observe this and provide feedback for classroom walk throughs and learning walks will be beneficial. 

EHS post pandemic is excited to once engage and offer extra curricular activities to students. We also offer opportunities for students to engage in clubs and sports teams. We have  football, volleyball, cheerleading, and cross country in the fall. In the winter we offer wrestling, basketball, and soccer teams. In the spring we have golf, softball, and baseball.  In terms of clubs we offer: Culinary Arts Club, Early Academic Outreach Program, FFA, National Honor Society, Spanish Club, and JSA. We are growing in providing student voice through ASB and our newly created Link Crew Club. Our Link Crew also provides a vital role in our PBIS program. Students have access to job and internship opportunities also previously mentioned. EHS is looking forward to continuing to build and expand on these opportunities to help students develop skills for college, career, and life through CTSO’s and internships. This school year, Student Leadership has planned a spirit week, homecoming. The Student Leadership with FFA Leadership also provided feedback around ideas like attendance incentives and when revamping the school's SLOs and gave feedback on PBIS behavior expectations. The goal is for the Student Leadership council to take charge in planning and leading in the further development of school culture. EHS recognizes that there can be more clubs on campus. With staff and student support, offering clubs that students are interested in and can develop further skills, will allow EHS's expanding co-curricular and extracurricular programs to meet the interests and needs of students.

EHS is continuing to expand opportunities for students to have voice and choice on campus. Student Leadership (FFA/ASB) help play a major role in shaping our school culture. The creation of Link Crew has been key in growing our PBIS program and spreading a culture of inclusivity and kindness. Teachers are planning lessons and using the planned engaging performance tasks projects, as opportunities for students to engage in relevant and meaningful ways to develop skills and advocacy for their needs and supports. You see this in the topics and discussion held in Health class, finding your personal legend in English 11 with the reading of the Alchemist, and current event topics connected to World History. Student voice is valued in classes and can be observed during class observations with participation and relevant lesson planning and teaching. The EHS support staff team are also exploring creating groups with the support of RISE  for students to build these essential skills which include positive relationships, identity, decision-making, and more. Students have participated in a number of surveys that have helped staff collectively and in groups, especially among teachers and the support staff, determine student interests and what additional supports and opportunities can be provided for students.   Although EHS offers multiple outlets for students to share their voice and impact school decision-making. EHS stakeholders acknowledge there are more meaningful ways and impact that can be done. This includes creating and running student-centered clubs, tools for measuring student voice and impact in classrooms and throughout campus, and systematizing ways for students to develop skills and measure the effectiveness of teaching students these skills and the effectiveness of students using their voice and self-advocating.