MENTAL HEALTH and COMMUNITY RESOURCES

Important Phone Numbers to Use in an Emergency

• 911
• Lancaster County Crisis Intervention: (717) 394-2631
• Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255 (TALK)

Counseling Services

• COBYS Family Services: 1-800-452-6517
• Life Span Psychological Services: (717) 464-1464
• The Light Program: 1-888-686-7511
• Morning Star Counseling: (717) 314-2373
  • Also has School Based Service options.
• New Hope Community Life Ministry: (717)786-2802
• T.W. Ponessa (717)394-2631
  • Also has School Based Service options.
• Weigel Counseling Associates: (717) 464-1450

Prevent Suicide - PA's Online Learning Center for educators and community members.

• preventsuicidepalearning.com/

SAP Services

• The Student Assistance Program is a highly confidential means to alert school personnel about issues in students' lives. A referral can be found in the library, school nurse's office, and the Guidance office and teachers classrooms . More information can be found in the SAP portion of this website.

Swift MS Contacts

• Jennifer Pearson, MS Counselor: (717)-548-2187;jennifer_pearson@solancosd.org
• Paul Gladfelter, MS Principal: (717) 548-2187; paul_gladfelter@solancosd.org
• John Dolan, MS Asst. Principal: (717)548-2187; john_dolan@solancosd.org
• Avery Hill, District Social Worker (717)786-8401; avery_hill@solancosd.org
• Nicky Bender, School Nurse: (717)-548-2187; nicole_bender@solancosd.org
• Sachi Smith, SAP Liaison: (717)548-2187; sachi_smith@solancosd.org

Attendance

Truancy Elimination Planning

The goal of the Solanco School District is to partner with families to ensure consistent school attendance for our students. Compulsory attendance is the law, and if truancy goes unaddressed it can lead to school dropout, delinquent behavior and multiple behavior problems for youth. In addition, failure to complete school leads to financial losses and certain hardships for the family and the truant child as he/she attains adulthood. Parents, children, schools and community agencies work together to ensure consistent school attendance and eliminate truancy.

Working Together 

Parents  Students  Teachers  Administrators and Counselors  District Justice  Juvenile Probation and Parole  Lancaster County Children and Youth Agency  Local Community Partners

School/Family Partnership

Once your child has been absent 10 or more days or has 3 unexcused absences, the school will begin the process of assisting you in eliminating future attendance issues, which may include, but not limited to:

 Formally contacting you in writing regarding the issues.  Requiring a doctor’s excuse for all future absences.  Assisting you in getting to the root cause of the attendance issue.  Referring your child to different programs within the school geared towards improving your child’s attendance. This may include the school counselor or other supportive programs.

The desire of each school’s support team is to assist you with remedying the attendance issue that exists. It is not the team’s desire to resort to more extensive action unless forced to do so if the problem persists. If the problem does persist, the school team has a responsibility to take additional action.

This action will include:

 Sending a formal letter to you regarding your child’s truancy pursuant to Section 1354, Public School Code.  Presenting this brochure for your understanding.  Developing an Attendance Improvement Plan for you, your child and the school to follow.  Referral to the District Justice for citations and fines.  Referral to the Lancaster County Children and Youth Agency after the second citation to the District Justice within the current academic year.

In order to make our partnership a success, we need parents/guardians to:

 Send in a signed written excuse including why your student was absent upon return to school.  Send in a doctor’s note if your child’s illness/injury extends beyond three consecutive school days.  Refer to your child’s school handbook for all other procedures concerning tardiness and absenteeism.  Ask for additional support as needed.

Partnership with the Student Assistance Program

The Student Assistance Program exists to identify students who are experiencing barriers to learning and school success because of personal difficulties, emerging mental health issues or concerns related to drug and alcohol involvement. The purpose is to refer students to the appropriate school and/or community resources. The program is an intervention program, not an in-school treatment or disciplinary program. All referrals are treated confidentially. Students can be referred through the school counseling office by any adult and/or another student.