Mary Byrne
With grant funding to support it, the Belmont school district is looking to better equip its staff with the tools to meet student needs, particularly as the district continues the reconfiguration process involving the Chenery Upper Elementary School (CUE).
“Belmont is not unique in that schools everywhere are reporting upticks in kids needing more emotional support at school,” said Assistant Superintendent Lucia Sullivan. “That means that staff need to have more skills and training on how best to meet the needs of kids, especially if they’re struggling. The number one thing at school is you want kids to feel safe and a sense of belonging because that is a prerequisite for learning.”
A $99,800 grant from the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education will allow the district to offer its staff social-emotional learning (SEL) training and continue providing families with access to Care Solace, a free and confidential online service that matches users with service providers.
“It’s really hard to get mental health services,” Sullivan said. “Even if you have insurance, it’s hard to find providers that take your insurance or have availability.”
According to Sullivan, the service can be used by students, staff, and their families. People can call Care Solace or conduct a database search.
The Social-Emotional Learning & Mental Health grant will also fund SEL training this summer for the roughly 80 staff members working at the Chenery Upper Elementary School next school year. The grant, awarded in February, must be spent by the end of the fiscal year in June, according to Sullivan, who credited Belmont High School guidance counselor Sherri Turner with helping her apply for the grant.
“We’re going to have a four-day workshop this summer with the staff from that building with a real targeted focus on how to provide social-emotional support to kids and how to shift from having a more middle school orientation to having an elementary school orientation,” Sullivan said.
Reconfiguration
As part of a reconfiguration process, Chenery, formerly a middle school for grades five through eight, will become an elementary school for grades four through six. The seventh- and eighth-grade teams have already moved into the new middle school on Concord Avenue, and the fourth grade will move to the CUE next year.
“One of the biggest struggles in education is that we have very little professional development time,” Sullivan said. “People work really hard, but when the school day ends, they have other responsibilities. … As a district, we have a very lean calendar. The opportunity to be able to spend four days … has the potential to be transformative on the culture.”
The summer training, which responsive classroom trainer Amy Kelly will lead, will be a “key part” in shifting the school from a middle school to an elementary school.
“Part of the training is going to be supporting teachers about the responsive classroom approach and how to lead a morning advisory with kids to build community, to build a sense of belonging,” Sullivan said.
The district also hopes to provide SEL training at the other elementary schools. This would likely happen through a guest speaker during scheduled professional development days.
Sullivan said this type of training costs upwards of $1,000 per person. This grant will cover the consultant’s time, as well as the cost of books and other materials.
“This grant is enabling us to do something we absolutely would not have had an opportunity to do,” she said. “I’m excited about that because I also think it’s important skill development for the teachers, and it’s an opportunity for them to really gel as a cohesive faculty as a new group of people.”
Editor’s Note: In the interest of full disclosure, Belmont Voice board member Kevin Sullivan is the husband of Lucia Sullivan.
