San Vicente School Bulletin

I am pleased to announce that teachers have completed report card conferences just in time to celebrate the fruits of our labor with a mentor and a hero, Cesar Chavez. If you give your personal best, you have touched the hand of success. I am proud of each of you for working to be the best that you can be. Si Se Puede Panthers! You are Soledad's Finest.

Teachers and support family, your continuous dedication to the success of our students continues to be remarkable and appreciated. I understand the daily challenges, rewards, and iterations of being a teacher, an aide, a food service supporter, a custodian, a secretary, a counselor, a Family Liaison, a Health Aide, an Attendance Clerk, a parent for many, a mother or father, and all of the various unmentioned roles that you each have. Still, you work vigorously, selflessly, tirelessly to ensure that our school thrives.

Finally, I would like to thank Officer C. Lozano of the Soledad Police Department, for assisting us with bullying prevention and intervention. Our kids rely on our community to help support them as they journey down the road to success. Thank you all for believing in our kids!

Panther Proud,

Doc B.

RESTORATIVE PRACTICES

4 Steps to Discussing Challenging Behavior With a Student

Addressing students’ behavior can be tough, but it’s possible to approach them in ways that show compassion and help them feel ready to discuss the issue.

By Carolyn Curtis

March 10, 2022

We’ve read about and witnessed firsthand the mental health crisis and increase in behavioral challenges of students this year. Because of those challenges, which are coupled with a lack of mental health providers in schools, educators often find themselves in a position of having difficult conversations with students around social, emotional, and behavioral struggles. As many teachers report an increase in stress, responding to challenging behaviors and student emotional needs can leave us feeling exhausted.

The four simple steps that follow can assist you when having difficult conversations with students. They can be used as part of a process after a student has escalated, when a student shares about a struggle, or when you are trying to interact with a disengaged student.

1. START BY CHECKING IN

Check the situation: Before you enter a conversation, it’s important to first determine if the situation warrants a conversation or requires a behavioral intervention. Ask yourself, “Is this a crisis?” If the student is engaging in behaviors that are unsafe toward themselves or others, attend to the safety issue first, and then once the crisis is over and the student is de-escalated, you can prepare for a conversation.

Check yourself: Before you enter any conversation, do a quick check-in with yourself to see how you’re doing and if you’re ready and able to engage in a difficult conversation. These are questions to ask yourself: What am I feeling? Am I my best self? Am I calm? Can I think clearly and rationally? If you find yourself feeling anxious, frustrated, or not your best self, take a few minutes to settle your own emotions. There are many great mindfulness exercises that will quickly help you settle your own emotions and help ground you. Remember, you put on your own oxygen mask first before you can help anyone else.

Check the student: Take a few seconds to look at the student and observe their body language, eye contact, and behaviors. See if you can quickly determine any information about whether it’s a good time to approach the student by carefully observing their appearance and actions. Perhaps the student is looking disheveled as if they have not showered recently, or they seem tired or hungry. These may be signs that the student’s basic needs must be addressed and could also be impacting their behavior.

Check the environment: Make sure that you and the student are in a safe and confidential place before engaging in a conversation.

2. CONVERSE TO UNDERSTAND THE STUDENT’S NEEDS

Once you’ve completed your checks and come to the conclusion that you’re emotionally ready to have a conversation, the student is willing and able to talk, and the setting is conducive to chatting, then you can start the conversation. Using restorative practices in the conversation helps you focus on supporting the student.

Engage the student: The first part of any effective conversation involves engaging the student. This can be done through a regular greeting like “Hey” or asking an opening question like “How are you doing?” As you start engaging the student, it’s important to focus on the issue at hand. State the facts without any emotions or feeling statements, making comments such as “I have noticed you’ve been showing up late” or “You seem really tired and have been sleeping in class.” If the student doesn’t immediately respond to the facts, it’s helpful to normalize struggles through compassionate statements such as “It’s a hard time for a lot of people right now” or “I know a lot of people are really struggling with... now.”

Explore what’s going on: Take some time to explore what’s going on in the student’s life. You can do this by asking open-ended questions to elicit more information, focusing on details such as who, what, when, where, and how. When you find yourself stuck on not knowing what to say next, you can always ask, “Can you tell me more about that?”

Validate, don’t fix: When a student starts talking, it’s important to provide validation through comments such as “That sounds really rough” or “I think a lot of people would feel the same way in that situation. It makes perfect sense that you felt that way.”​ Validation shows that you care about the student. Remember, it’s not your job to fix everything. Watch this short video, It’s Not About the Nail, for a humorous look at the difference between validating someone and trying to fix the problem.

Confirm your understanding: To ensure that the student feels heard and to make sure you have an accurate understanding of the situation, it’s helpful to ask clarifying questions like “When you said..., what did you mean?”​ Paraphrasing or summarizing involves retelling what the student shared and voicing statements such as “It seems like you have a lot going on. You talked about...”​ and “In my understanding, the main challenges here are...” It’s helpful to ask, “Was there anything else that I missed?”

3. MAKE A SINCERE CONNECTION

Connect with the student: To let the student know you care, you can say things like “I’m here for you” and “You have a lot of people, including me, who care about you.”

Connect potential solutions: To let your student know that they’re not alone, use “we” instead of “you” statements, as in “What can we do to make this better?” Instead of simply offering advice, ask the student questions like “What are some options of what could be done?” or “What do you need right now?” If the student is having trouble thinking of ways to help the situation, you can ask, “If your friend had this challenge, what would you say to them?”

Connect to resources: This is the important part of the conversation, where you help direct the student to supportive resources and coping strategies. Through asking questions like “What can you do the next time you’re struggling?” “Who else can you talk with about this?” or “What or who can make this better?” you can guide students in exploring and identifying their support systems.

4. END ON A POSITIVE NOTE

Thank the student for sharing​: To wrap up the conversation and reinforce that you care about the student, it’s important to thank them with phrases such as “Thank you for talking with me today” or “I appreciate you opening up and sharing with me.” It’s helpful to think of difficult conversations as a gift and an opportunity to strengthen your relationship with the student.

After conversation, plan to follow up​. Serious conversations aren’t simply a onetime thing but are opportunities to continue the topic at later times. To conclude the conversation, you can end it with a statement such as “I want to check in later. Let’s plan to talk more tomorrow” or “Next week, I’ll follow up with you to see how you’re doing with this.”

ATTENTION PARENTS AND STAFF: We are working on reviving our garden and we are asking for as many donations as possible. We are in need of the following items: shovels, spades, a rototiller, rakes, garden gloves, potting soil, garden hoes, plants, saplings, watering cans, garden hose, and trowels. Please feel free to drop those items off at our office. Thank you!

URGENT: During drop-off and pick-up times, our parking lot is extremely busy. Due to the fact that we have such a small parking lot, I would like to request your assistance in ensuring that you are using caution at all times when you pick up your kids. Safety is our priority at San Vicente. Additionally, please be sure to slow down when exiting our campus and when approaching the crosswalk. We have supervisors and staff in the parking lot, at the crosswalk, and at the exit of our parking lot to assist with the flow of traffic. Next, please be sure to drop your students off and pick them up in front of the school. If you are late or if you need to pick up your students early, please check in with the front office. Please help us to keep our campus safe by coming to the office for assistance. We appreciate all that you do for our kids but our campus is currently closed to parents in an effort to keep our students and staff safe.

Please get involved in our ELAC and School Site Council meetings. We need your input to assist in the ongoing task of helping our students grow socially and academically. In addition, I welcome you to join me for Virtual Coffee with the Principal on the second Wednesday of each month from 8:30-9:30 am. I welcome all of you as I would like to get to know each of you so that I may connect your face with your child's.

I am requesting your continued support with the following: Please assist your student(s) in filling out their COVID questionnaire each day before sending your students' to school. There is a link available on our district website. Thank you.

Next, please continue to check-in on ClassDojo, Seesaw, and Google Classroom regularly to ensure that you are receiving current news and information about your child's/children's class(es) from their teacher(s). If you have a question or concern regarding classroom assignments, student interactions, curriculum, or anything in general, I would like to encourage you to reach out directly to your child's/children's teacher(s).

PLEASE NOTE: Our office hours are from 7:45-4:30 pm.

Please do not hesitate to reach out to us for assistance and support! We are here for you!

Finally, please continue to check our school's website, Facebook page, and Parent Square regularly for updates and upcoming events. We value your input and our kids thrive from partnerships.

Apr. 1- Cesar Chavez Holiday-No School

Apr. 4- IEP Marathon Day

Apr. 4- Greenfield Science Workshop at SV Fourth Grade

Apr. 5- Second Grade Walking Field Trip to MSMS 8:15am

Apr. 5- Greenfield Science Workshop at SV Fourth Grade

Apr. 6- Sixth Grade Promotion Pictures

Apr. 6- Coffee with the Principal 8:30am

Apr. 6- ASP Drive Thru Registration

Apr. 7- Spring Pictures

Apr. 7- Greenfield Science Workshop at SV Fourth Grade

Apr. 7- Fire Drill 11:00am

Apr. 8- Fun Friday

Apr. 8- 5th/6th Grade Field Trip to the Tech Museum

Apr. 8- ELAC Meeting 8:15am

Apr. 11- IEP Marathon Day

Apr. 11- Greenfield Science Workshop at SV Fifth Grade

Apr. 12- Staff Meeting 3:25pm

Apr. 12- Greenfield Science Workshop at SV Fifth Grade

Apr. 12- DELAC Meeting 5:30pm

Apr. 13- SUSD Board Meeting 7:00pm

Apr. 14- Greenfield Science Workshop at SV Fifth Grade

Apr. 15-22- Spring Break

CONTACTING Mrs. Yesenia Velasquez-Arreola

EMAIL: yvelasquez-arreola@soledad.k12.ca.us

PHONE EXT. 11641

M-F 7:45AM-3:25PM

WEBSITE CLICK HERE

BOOKS READ TO DATE: 13,975 (Fabulous!)

WORDS READ TO DATE: 51,966,881 (Amazing work!)

AR % LEVEL SCHOOL-WIDE: 85% (WE ARE MAINTAINING OUR GOAL. LET'S TRY TO KEEP IT THIS WAY)

TOP AR READERS WITH HIGHEST PASSING % RATE (THIS IS FROM MARCH 14, 2022 - MARCH 25, 2022)

Pre-K: Ernesto Gonzales (Ms. Rodriguez) 1.5 pts, 100% (AMAZING!)

Kinder: Evelyn Corrales (Mrs. Gallegos) 5.5 pts, 100% (AWESOME!)

1st Gr: Rosemary Chagoya-Montiel (Ms. Paredes) 8.3 pts, 88% (FABULOUS!)

2nd Gr: Hector Rivera (Mr. Gomez) 7.1 pts, 90% (SUPER!)

3rd Gr: Adrian Almaras (Mrs. Sandoval) 16.4 pts, 90% (WOW!)

4th Gr: Gregory Maturino (Ms. Lara) 10.5 pts, 87% (GREAT!)

5th Gr: Miranda Rico-Hernandez (Mr. Ceja) 7.1 pts, 94% (FASCINATING!)

6th Gr: Angelline Sanchez Garcia (Mr. Felix) 139.3 pts, 97% (AMAZING!)

Dr. Gaige Bailey

Principal

1300 Metz Rd, Soledad, CA

831-678-6420