Greetings,
Since the beginning of the year there have been conflicts between a number of students at Roseway Heights and some of these altercations have been filmed and placed on social media. Safety is at top priority at Roseway Heights Middle School, so we are putting additional safeguards in place to ensure students are in a safe learning environment. Special thanks to parents and students who have reported incidents as it allows us to follow up with specific students and families regarding interventions for the students involved. We have a number of structures in place which we are in the process of increasing/reviewing. These include:
1) Teaching of expectations in "common areas" such as the hallways, playground, cafeteria, and restrooms.
2) Positive reward systems for meeting those expectations- ie: positive praise fro adults on duty and Roseway Reward tickets that can be used to redeem prizes.
3) Adults assigned to supervision duty before school, after school, during lunch, and between periods.
4) A menu of interventions for students who are struggling to meet expectations. We have been meeting with a number of families over the past couple of weeks do determine which interventions will support individual students in being successful.
5) Corrective consequences designed to change undesired behaviors which include outreach to families, skills teaching, review of rules and policies, etc. as well as opportunities to participate in a restorative process should there be a conflict.
6) Student participation in an advisory class where students learn social-emotional skills, have opportunities to touch base about their school experience, and have an opportunity to connect with a staff member in a smaller group setting (advisory classes range from 12-16 students, as opposed to the average class size of 30 students).
7) Positive tardy sweeps each period to ensure each student is in class when the bell rings or receives the support they need to get to class in a timely manner such as help with a locker issue. At the start of each period the entire school, including bathrooms, are checked to make sure every student is accounted for each period. During last week's Principal's Coffee some parents shared that some students had reported this process felt punitive, so staff members participating in the sweeps were reminded the focus was positive and about getting students to class on time for the purpose of learning.
We are also in the process of starting up student clubs to get student input in these and other areas. Over 100 students signed up to be on Student Leadership and that is just one of many options that were offered. More information about clubs will be coming out at the beginning of next week.
Families can help support these efforts in a number of ways:
1) Discussing how important it is for all students to feel safe at school.
2) Explaining to students there are interventions and consequences occurring that may not be obvious to others. Each of our students is protected by federal FERPA laws, which means their personal information cannot be shared.
3) Explaining the importance of reporting any concerns or any incidents they have witnessed or knowledge of any filming happening when there is an incident. If this happens in the classroom, the teacher is the best person to approach. If it happens in a common area, students can go to a staff member on duty.
4) Explaining the importance of students not participating in social media posts or posting as this only feeds negative rumors and is also embarrassing to any students who might be seen in the video. Adults should also refrain from posting any videos on social media as this only increases the vulnerability of students shown in the video- most of whom were filmed without permission. If you see a video posted, please forward it to the school as soon as possible so an investigation can occur.
5) Participating in parent committees such as the School Climate Committee, the Equity Team, the School Site Council, and the Parent Teacher Organization. Information for each of these meetings will be sent out in advance. We are also working on scheduling meetings at a variety of locations such as Hacienda, the Asian Family Center, and Broadway Vantage in early October so we can get input from a cross section of our school population.
6) Contacting the school if you feel your student might need additional support or resources. Our counselors Ms, Coomes (jcoomes@pps.net) and Mr. Polychronis (tpolychronis@pps.net) can help connect families to different organizations and services.
We are open to any other suggestions and ideas. Please feel free to reach out to Principal Ellwood at kellwood@pps.net.
Thank you to everyone for their support and effort toward building a positive community for our students.
