The first meeting of the Anamosa District and Community Leadership Team met on October 30th to discuss mental health concerns. The team was put together through a partnership with Grant Wood AEA and ACSD and involved many members of the community interested in supporting mental health initiatives in the school.
This year Strawberry Hill Elementary will be partnering with Grant Wood AEA and community organizations who support our youth and families, to implement the Interconnected Systems Framework (ISF). ISF is a structure and process to integrate Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) and School Mental Health (SMH) within school systems. ISF addresses the limitations of both PBIS and SMH by 1) expanding the continuum of comprehensive interventions in schools for students, 2) utilizing a multi-tiered system of support, and 3) using data for decision making.
Presentation materials from the ISF Monograph listed “Twenty percent of children and youth have a clearly identified need for mental health service but only about one-third of these children receive any help at all.” The reasons for not receiving treatment vary. When youth do not receive the support they need, the school is left to provide the interventions, often times without the expertise and resources they need. In order to reduce non-academic barriers to learning, we need our community to work together to ensure early identification, effective treatment, and improved educational and life outcomes for all students, especially those with or at risk of developing mental health challenges.
For more information about this pilot, please contact Mary Sult at the ACSD Central Office 319-462-4321.
Superintendent Hunt’s Welcome
Brainstorming Resources Activity
