Newton Falls – In a year where students, teachers, and staff were faced with unprecedented obstacles, Newton Falls is striving to rise above the struggles by increasing positivity among students – and prepare for more help for students this coming summer.
Many schools throughout the nation realized the importance of ‘trauma-informed’ education – a type of education that includes training for staff, resources, and ongoing support for students. The hope is that schools see improvements in attendance, teacher satisfaction, a reduction in suspensions and/or expulsions, and reduced stress for staff and students.
“A lot of students have returned to the classroom carrying a lot of anxiety”, said Newton Falls High School Principal John Crowder, “so our goal has always been, not just to make sure they were catching up academically if need by, but socially as well.”
Crowder says, after the staff was fully vaccinated, in person classes five days a week resumed April 6th. The elementary school has been in person since the fall, and in grades 6 through 10, approximately 20-percent of students are still remote. In grades 11 and 12, the number is higher, at 35-percent remote.
To help with adjusting, school leaders have held ice cream socials for the junior high students and put together a movie night for students on the honor roll. The movie night was open to virtual and in-person learners. School leaders say they are also looking to get music back into the classrooms – and each morning, at the junior high, students receive an uplifting morning message, that relates back to their goal of social emotional learning. An example of the message might be about how to be a friend.
Another thing the school is doing and has been doing is something called Postive Behavioral Interventions and Supports or PBIS. Newton Falls Assistant Principal Rachael Rankin says “when the environment is healthy and positive for the students and they are excited about school, they will come and do better and parents will feel more at ease that their students are enjoying school, socially as well as academically.”
In fact, Newton Falls Exempted Village Schools was awarded a bronze designation for this school year, due to their PBIS efforts. Rankin says they will continue to come up with positive activities for the students that builds the relationship between students, families, and the schools.
She also adds that the guidance counseling teams have really enhanced their efforts to reach out to students and in-house social workers have played a big part in creating that positive connection between schools and students as well.
The schools have also put together a summer of growth program to help kids in the district bring up their academics. While the school system certainly saw some students struggling because of the pandemic and virtual learning, Rankin said in their assessment, it was very comparable to the “summer slide,” a term often used to describe a decline in reading abilities and other academic skills that can occur over the summer months.
As the school district is in the final stretch of the school year, Rankin took time to mention how appreciative they are of the entire Newton Falls teaching staff, especially during such a difficult year.
