Wheaton Woods Elementary School

Vision: We are a welcoming community ​of lifelong ​learners where all cultures are nurtured ​and safe.

Mission: The Wildcat community is a dedicated group of trauma-informed educators who support children and families’ social emotional well-being by celebrating our cultural differences, encouraging curiosity, and maintaining high expectations.

Motto: Every person counts, every moment matters

Hi Wheaton Woods Wildcat Community!

I am the proud Community School Liaison and am excited to begin my fourth year as a CSL. Wheaton Woods is a Community School, which means that we receive additional support and resources for students, families, and school staff.

The Office of School Support and Well-Being wants to ensure that we provide top quality instruction, enrichment, health & social services, & opportunities for our students to succeed academically, socially, and emotionally now and in the future. I look forward to collaborating with you! Let’s make a positive impact in our Community School TOGETHER!

“A public school that establishes a set of strategic partnerships between the school and other community resources that promote student achievement, positive learning conditions, and the well-being of students by providing wraparound services.”

• Comprehensive support services for children and families

• Schools that develop and utilize partnerships to connect the school, students, families, and surrounding community to the resources needed in order to thrive

• Act as “hubs” that provide essential wraparound services to students, families, and communities to promote health, academics, and overall well-being

• Programas después de la escuela
• Transportación segura a la escuela
• Servicos visión y dental
• Centros de salud en la escuela

• Bienestar físico y comidas saludables

• Apoyo mental/ comportamiento
• Desarrollo profesional al personal escolar para intervenciones informadas sobre el trauma
  

• Experiencias de enriquecimiento para los estudiantes

• Asistencia de estudiantes
  

• Ambiente del aprendizaje escolar

• Desarrollo profesional para los maestr@s y personal escolar
  

• Capacitación para el desarrollo laboral

• Apoyos familiares, de participación y comunitarios

• Educación infantil

• Clases de idiomas

Goal #1- Wheaton Woods Elementary School will promote health and wellness for students and families by providing regular quarterly opportunities to access health and mental services and supports, both during and outside of the school day, by the end of the 2025 academic year to improve school attendance by 15%.

Goal #2- Wheaton Woods Elementary School will decrease chronic absenteeism from 26% to 10% by initiating and implementing programming for students and families by the end of the 2025 academic year.

Goal #3- By 2025, Wheaton Woods Elementary School will increase family engagement by having 35% or more of parents attend at least 9 or more school events to establish a healthier school climate.

We are grateful for our Community Partners! Check out a few of them:

• School counselors help students develop positive attitudes toward self, family,

• and community.

• They provide individual and small group counseling to students to help foster growth in personal, social, and academic areas.

• They develop and deliver classroom lessons that address skills including, but not limited to, conflict resolution, respect for self and others, self-confidence, and career exploration.

• They work collaboratively with students, parents, and teachers to identify and remove barriers that may impede student achievement.

• They advocate for all students needs

• Students can self refer/request a meeting through our online Counseling portal. (See Counseling tab on the WWES webpage.)

• Staff can email the School Counselor to discuss concerns and see what interventions may be needed

• Welcome and orient families who are new to the school and community.

• Connect families to resources in the community and support families with referrals to county agencies and community organizations.

• Help families understand the school system policies, programs and local school culture, procedures and practices.

• Assist schools with monitoring student attendance and relay to parents and caregivers the importance of school attendance and the link to student learning and academic achievement.

• Participate on Student Well-Being Teams and share challenges that families are facing with school administrators, counselors, teachers, and cluster colleagues such as PPWs, ETCs, and school psychologists to collaboratively problem solve next steps.

• Serve as a contact for parents and caregivers to seek answers to questions and to provide guidance and coaching to improve home-school communication.

• Help students and parents with registration to MCPS

• Work alongside teachers on students attendance

• Student and Family Support

• Community Resources

• Attendance support

• Residency/Enrollment

• Homeless families

Leads and collaborates with staff and parents on the MCPS and the Wheaton Woods vision and mission. They have collaborated with the leadership team to construct a new motto: Every person counts. Every moment matters. Their partnering thrust this year is Connect, Create, Cultivate and Elevate. They look forward to an outstanding year!

• Review information provided by parents and health care providers

• Case manage and develop individual health care plans and emergency care plans when needed

• Train teachers, administrators and other school staff to support individual student health needs

• Collaborate, develop and implement health promotion and disease prevention programs to educate the school community about public health concerns such as immunization, nutrition, fitness, chronic disease and emotional well-being

• Provide consultation on health issues related to Individualized Education Programs (IEP) and Section 504 Plans.

• Delegate to, train and work closely with School Health Room Technicians

• Link students and families to community resources

“School-based central office employee who conducts a needs assessment of the school community (students, families, & staff), and based on that assessment, coordinates and manages a wide range of services - including academic, health, mental, and other services - to help address the negative impact that concentrated poverty often has on children and families.”

• Designs and implements a structured wellness program for diverse populations, advocating and promoting wellness, a healthy and active lifestyle, and healthy eating behaviors in assigned schools.
• Developments and implementations of training programs, workshops and presentations to train, support and provide materials and resources for school staff to engage and instruct students in matters related to wellness, fitness, restorative justice, and positive emotional and behavioral health.
• Provides training to assigned school staff through in-person as well as, synchronous and asynchronous virtual formats.
• Assists and supports school staff with presentations, events and workshops for students and families with topics that support positive emotional and mental health for students, families and the school community.
• Provides mindfulness and restorative justice training, materials and weekly guidance to community school staff to implement in school settings.
• Develops and trains school staff members to serve as a mindfulness/restorative justice coaches in their schools.
• Supports students with effective mindfulness and restorative justice practices.
• Supports the goals and objectives of the MCPS Community Schools model.
• Collaborates with all other MCPS offices to ensure that student mental and emotional health supports, training and resources are aligned across the system.

The Child and Family Therapist can provide…

• Early intervention and prevention

• Individual mental health therapy sessions with students 30-45 minutes 1x per week

• To address topics including: life transitions (divorce, grief/loss, reunification), social skills, self-esteem, coping with stress and anger, coping with emerging signs of anxiety and depression

• Family therapy (siblings, parents, whole families)

• Groups on a variety of topics including social skills, anger management, and coping skills

• Case management services including:

• Basic needs like clothing and food

• Employment assistance

• Eligibility and financial assistance

• Referrals to access services and supports in the community to reach individualized goals

• Peer support groups

• Workshops for parents on important topics such as:

• Immigration

• Housing

• Finances

• Legal issues

• Parenting skills

• ETCs are county staff that get assigned to a number of schools where they provide short-term social and emotional support through a bicultural/bilingual approach to newcomer students and ESOL level 2 students to help them become acclimated to U.S. schools.

• To provide individual and group multilingual and multicultural counseling to newcomers and ESOL level 2 students.

• To assist in the cultural, social, and emotional adjustment of ESOL students levels 1 & 2.

• To assist in resolving conflicts arising from cross-cultural misunderstandings with ESOL students levels 1 & 2.

• If a staff member wishes to refer a student to an ETC they can do so through the counselor, Ms. Miriam Peska.

Ms. Liz Collins, Principal

Ms. Julie Stevens, Assistant Principal

Mrs. Daysi Castro, Community School Liaison

Twitter: @wwescsl

4510 Faroe Place

Rockville, Md. 20853

Daysi_E_Castro@mcpsmd.org

240-740-0220 or 240-888-7591

https://www2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/wheatonwoodses/