I want to start my message this month by recognizing the dialog happening at Steamboat Springs High School. I joined principal Elertson and the board in a letter to the community regarding the culture at the high school, which you can read here. I want to take this opportunity to encourage participation on the district’s Culture and Climate Task Force. More information about the committee’s work is available here.

A positive school culture and mental health are intrinsically linked. Last month, I shared how our district is supporting students’ mental health and promised a view into the innovative approach we are taking, starting in elementary school. In Steamboat Springs School District (SSSD), we have something we call “Tier 1” mental health services and supports. It includes a focus on the following: school climate, teacher and school staff well-being, positive behaviors and relationships, positive discipline practices, mental health literacy, and social emotional learning.

As a district, we believe that students must be healthy enough to learn and teachers healthy enough to teach. All students, regardless of whether they are at risk for mental health issues, receive Tier 1 services and supports. They learn conflict resolution and regulation skills and engage in lessons meant to enhance personal safety such as substance abuse prevention and body safety. Tier 1 supports are embedded in the culture of our schools with the goal of decreasing the stigma of mental health and illness, lessening the need for more intensive services as students get older, and promoting the well-being and educational success of all students.

Through our MindUP program, our students learn to regulate emotion and focus attention. As part of our Tier 1 services and supports, SSSD teachers are trained in MindUP, which helps them create classroom environments characterized by optimism, compassion, and engagement, promoting resilience and fostering expressions of gratitude, empathy, and connection to others. We are extremely fortunate that Susanmarie Otto is an official MindUP facilitator and provides this training directly to teachers in our district.

SSSD’s focus on mental health will certainly feature in our strategic planning work, which will launch next month. We recently announced that we would begin a process during the 2021–2022 school year to update our strategic plan. We see this strategic plan update as an opportunity to drive clarity and alignment across the community to take our district to the next level. We have selected the Colorado Education Initiative (CEI) to serve as our strategic partner. Please look for communication on our website, in school newsletters, and in the pilot in early November regarding the opportunity to serve on the Strategic Plan Steering Committee. Additionally, CEI anticipates hosting several virtual listening sessions this winter, which will be announced soon. We specifically selected CEI for its commitment to working across our entire district community— with students, parents, teachers, administrators, and community members—to conduct a collaborative strategic planning process.