Ideas for Student Wellness and Success

Ohio Schools and districts have a strong history of working with community partners to assess their own needs, make plans, expand partnerships and implement new initiatives. This webpage highlights the work of schools and districts to support the needs of the whole child. The Ideas for Innovation identified below are intended to inspire schools and districts as they assess their own needs and plan for their use of Disadvantage Pupil Impact Aid and Student Wellness and Success Funding.

To share your school or districts’ Idea for Innovation, complete the Ideas for Innovation Microsoft Form. 

Ideas for Innovation

Schools and districts, with their community partners, are meeting their school and district needs in innovative ways. Some of these Ideas for Innovation are listed below.

  • Mental Health Supports 
    Beavercreek City Schools

    Beavercreek City Schools’ Whole Child Team increased access to mental, social and emotional health supports for students. The district increased the number of on-site school mental health counselors and social workers and implemented a teacher intervention and referral system. The district’s referral system allows teachers and staff to identify at-risk students and connect them with early interventions and support. Communication between teachers and support staff has been streamlined, leading to more timely student interventions.

  • Student Engagement
    Edison Local Schools

    Edison Local Schools implemented Positive Education Programming (PEP) to increase student engagement and support academic performance. The program provides academic benchmarks and data to inform when students should be engaged in small groups or in a 1:1 clinical education setting. The district personalizes learning to better meet each child’s individual needs. Edison Local Schools experienced an increase in the number of students meeting milestones and progressing towards graduation because of Positive Education Programming. The district identifies students earlier for additional supports and interventions, and school staff have gained expertise in innovative and individualized interventions for vulnerable students.

  • Financial Literacy
    Allen East Local Schools

    Allen East Local Schools offers educational programming over the summer that focuses on life skills and capacity-building among middle and high school students. The program focused on financial literacy in FY 2022. Through key partnerships with banks and employers in the community, students learned real-world skills on handling money and related skills. Allen East Local Schools engages students during the summer months in academically enriching content while keeping them connected to the school community. The lesson plans are framed in the context of practical skills, helping students stay engaged outside of the academic year. Life skill learning objectives help students facilitate organic connections between lessons learned in the classroom and life after graduation.

  • Trauma-informed Care
    North Canton City Schools

    North Canton City School District formed a Trauma Resilience Education Consortium (TREC) Committee to educate staff on trauma. The training provided professional learning on the most common types of traumas, how trauma impacts learning, the signs of trauma and how to implement trauma-informed practices. The Stark County Educational Service Center and TREC Committee were able to learn and implement key best practices on trauma-informed education and services. The district implemented the Starr Commonwealth Training Program to certify staff as TREC practitioners and trainers.

  • School-based Health Center
    Norwood City School District

    Norwood City School District, in Hamilton County, identified significant disparities in health care access, which was impacting student wellness. To address these disparities, Interact for Health provided the district with a grant and connected leadership with Centerpoint Health, a health center with experience providing school-based health center services. The district used Student Wellness and Success funds to construct a health clinic in the nurse’s suite at Norwood High School campus. Students, staff and the larger Norwood community can access high quality health care services at the clinic. In March of 2021, the Centerpoint Health Clinic began offering telehealth services, as well as on-site medical, dental and behavioral health services.

  • Handle with Care
    Logan-Hocking Local School District

    Logan-Hocking Local School District’s Handle with Care program begins when emergency medical services or other first responders arrive on a scene. If a child is present or involved, the first responder sends a notification to the school’s alert system that gives the child’s name and a simple message: “handle with care.” Teachers and staff who interact with this student will receive the notification and will pay close attention to the student’s behavior and well-being throughout the day. This process gives school staff the power and discretion to provide supports in school, such as giving the child a break if they are struggling or being lenient with homework. It also allows an opportunity for the student to meet with the mental health specialist or receive crisis management and other high-level supports.

  • Multilingual Family Night
    Whitehall City Schools

    Whitehall City Schools, located in Franklin County, identified a need to increase family engagement and assist students and families who were new residents of Whitehall and in many cases had recently arrived in the United States. To ensure that these families connected school enrollment personnel, Whitehall City Schools partnered with community organizations to hold a Multilingual Family Night at Whitehall Yearling High School. The district invited trusted community organizations, as well as interpreters for Spanish and Amharic speakers.
 

Note: While the above Ideas for Innovation are appropriate uses of Student Wellness and Success or Disadvantaged Pupil Impact Aid funds, some have used other funds for these initiatives. 

Last Modified: 8/23/2023 11:37:36 AM