SHWAC Update - November 2024

The Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child, or WSCC model, is CDC’s framework for addressing health in schools. The WSCC model is student-centered and emphasizes the role of the community in supporting the school, the connections between health and academic achievement and the importance of evidence-based school policies and practices.

The WSCC model has 10 components:

1. Health Education
2. Physical Education & Physical Activity
3. Nutrition Environment & Services
4. Health Services
5. Counseling, Psychological & Social Services
6. Social & Emotional Climate
7. Physical Environment
8. Employee Wellness
9. Family Engagements
10. Community Involvement

Learn more about each of the 10 components.

Source: https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/wscc/index.htm

Union Chapel and Renner Elementary recently announced the grand re-opening of their newly remodeled kitchens, a transformative project designed to enhance meal quality, service efficiency, and food safety for students and staff. This marks the first-ever renovation of the kitchen facilities since the schools' establishment, representing a significant investment in modernizing food service operations to meet the growing needs of our school community.

Closed temporarily for renovations at the start of the school year, the kitchens now feature upgraded equipment, improved workflow layouts, and expanded cold storage. These additions allow the Nutrition Services team to prepare an expanded menu with a focus on fresh, healthy options. The new kitchen layouts and equipment will also improve food safety and efficiency, helping our dedicated staff serve students and faculty faster and more effectively.

After a slow soft opening, we were excited to host official ribbon-cutting events on October 31st and November 6th at Union Chapel and Renner, respectively, to celebrate the launch of these new spaces.

“Our goal was to create a safe, efficient environment that not only supports our nutrition team but also elevates the dining experience for our students,” said Grennan Sims, Director of Nutrition Services. “We are thrilled to offer an expanded menu with more fresh produce options, which our students are already loving!”

This remodel demonstrates Park Hill School District’s commitment to providing students with nutritious meals in a safe welcoming space. The improved cold storage capacity will enable the school to consistently offer fresh fruits and vegetables, further supporting student wellness and overall satisfaction.

Since the 2022-23 school year, Park Hill has produced a webinar series entitled Mental Health and Resilience. Designed for parents, guardians, and family members of Park Hill students, topics and experts on those topics are selected to address some of the most pressing needs of our students related to social, emotional, mental, and behavioral health.

Topics for the family webinar series have ranged from supporting children and youth with anxiety, fostering mental wellness in youth and in ourselves, helping ourselves and children manage grief, and building healthy habits related to the use of digital devices. An annual topic is the universal screening program used in Park Hill to identity students who might be considering suicide, called the Signs of Suicide (SOS) program.

You can view and register for upcoming webisodes, along with viewing past webisodes, by visiting the Student and Family Support webpage. Scroll down to Mental Health and Healthy Living Resources, then expand the Family Webinar Series: Mental Health and Resilience section.

Do you have an idea for a future webisode in the Mental Health and Resilience series? Please share your ideas here!

SOCIAL WORK

Park Hill Social Workers Mission Statement: Park Hill Social Workers respectfully collaborate with students and families by removing barriers, as well as ensuring access to information, services, and resources, to promote successful futures and enhance well-being.

During the 2023-2024 school year, Park Hill social workers took over 165 elementary school kids “shopping” through our partnership with Assistance League of Kanas City and gave over 100 students clothing vouchers. They referred 92 families to our hygiene pantry partner, so 390 Park Hill residents were able to get personal care items needed, such as shampoo, toothpaste, toilet paper, laundry detergent, ethnic hair products, and period care products. 195 students received Harvesters backsnacks to help with food insecurity over the weekends, 683 students received dental services through Miles of Smiles, and 248 Park Hill students/families were provided some type of assistance (rent/utility, furniture, sports equipment, course fees) via a referral made to Care Portal by a social worker.

SCHOOL BASED MENTAL HEALTH THERAPIST (SBMHT)

Park Hill School Based Mental Health Therapy Program Mission Statement: The Park Hill SBMHT will remove barriers and increase access to mental health services for ALL students, primarily focusing on the under/uninsured, McKinney Vento & Foster Care students, and those with high safety needs and limited/no access to care.

67 therapy referrals were received during 2023-2024 school year and 32 students engaged in therapy.

Demographics of all Referrals received (67)

• 56.7% White, 16.4% African American, 14.9% Hispanic, 10.4% Multi-racial, 1.4% Asian
• 53.7% Medicaid, 22.3% Uninsured, 19.4% Unknown, 5.9% insured (1 had combo)
• 35.8% have an IEP, 3.7% in the process of eval, 7.5% had 504, 55.2% no SPED services.
• 23.9% McKinney Vento/Foster Care
• 65.7% Free/Reduced Lunch
• 1 student listed as ELL

Demographics of all students engaged in therapy SY23-24 (32 students served)

• 59% White, 12.5% African American, 12.5% Hispanic, 16% Multi-racial
• 50% Medicaid, 31% Uninsured, 16% Unknown, 3% insured
• 47% have an IEP and/or 504
• 31% McKinney Vento/Foster Care
• 75% Free/Reduced Lunch

The 2023-2024 school year ended with Park Hill School Nurses seeing 78,664 students for health room visits, giving 56,692 medications/treatments, and providing 14,320 health screenings. That is over 149,676 student interactions throughout the school year.

We are starting the 2024-2025 school year fully staffed with 33 nurses and one 1:1 Paraprofessional to cover our 21 buildings. We also added one 1:1 contracted nurse from an outside agency. We are on track to have all vision and hearing screenings completed by Winter break. All our buildings are on schedule to have Medical Emergency Response Teams (MERT) in place by May of 2025. Park Hill Health Services has partnered with Children’s Mercy Hospital to become a Heart Safe School District with Project Adam. Look for Project Adam banners in our buildings.

Check out our new Health Services website: Health Services - Park Hill School District

We have a new logo and have added lots of health resources for our families. At the bottom of the site, you will find Health Services commitments to our students, staff, and families in alignment with Park Hill’s Drivers and Narratives.

For the 3rd consecutive year, Park Hill was awarded a grant from MO DESE to purchase feminine hygiene products for females in our middle and high schools across the district. Our award this year was $7,547.26.

Our Elementary Physical Education teachers have been actively implementing a newly restructured curriculum, designed to better align grade levels with consistent standards. This allows teachers to introduce similar activities across different grades, tailored to each level of understanding.

Did you know that all 11 of our elementary schools offer specialized education programs? Each of these programs includes access to either adapted Physical Education classes or modifications within regular PE sessions. These adjustments ensure that students in specialized programs can participate in PE in ways that meet their individual needs.

Our PE teachers are dedicated to adapting lessons to support all students, making modifications whenever necessary to provide an inclusive learning environment. Additionally, our elementary PE team organizes an All-District 5th-Grade Track Meet in May. This event is fully inclusive, featuring activities that are accessible and adaptable for all students.

Our incredible team of Park Hill School District health educators will review and revise the Health Education Curriculum in February 2025. They will pilot new resources throughout the rest of the spring semester, as well. Stay tuned for a more comprehensive Health Education update in the Spring 2025!

One year ago, the district contracted with a 3rd party to conduct an All-Hazards Risk Assessment. Representatives from this company were in our district for 2 weeks, visiting every building and interviewing staff to identify areas for improvement with regards to safety. We are continuing to work on implementing the recommendations received in their report and are excited to share just a few of those with you:

• Conducted emergency incident response training for the Aquatic Center Staff and Nutrition Services Staff
• All health room staff have been trained in Stop the Bleed
• District administrators have completed ICS 100c and 700c courses
• Clean overgrowth and foliage on several school sites, as well as replaced burned out lighting to increase visibility
• Implemented visitor stickers at District Office
• Education staff on rally points vs relocation sites
• Conducted fire extinguisher training for Nutrition Services staff
• Updated evacuation maps for several schools, including identifying tornado safe spaces as directed by emergency management
• Changed approval to active shooter to adopt the ALICE Active Shooter Training Model
• Scheduled active shooter training, tornado, and fire drills for District Office and Support Services
• Implemented a standard for classroom door security during instruction
• Trained office staff on protocols for bomb threats and suspicious packages
• Implemented reflective vest requirements for staff who work car rider and bus rider lanes
• Added combination locks outdoor area fencing to allow for fast egress
• Increased AED supply across the district
• Created a process map and forms for safety and security improvement requests

These are just a few examples of how we are using this feedback to improve safety and security across the district. We truly appreciate everyone's feedback during the process, as well as their patience as work through solutions.

We've received significant feedback in person and online on the revised redistricting scenarios, and one thing is clear: families, students and staff love our schools. Learn more about the next steps in our redistricting process in this edition of Mike's Minute.

Redistricting Update
Thank you to everyone who has shared their thoughts and feedback both online and in person on the six maps currently under consideration. These revised scenarios continue to work on direct feeder patterns and are being presented by north scenarios and south scenarios, as they can be evaluated separately. These scenarios have been updated based on community input from the original boundary scenarios, as well as the Redistricting Advisory Team's evaluations and scores.

We’ll continue to shape the scenarios based on feedback and will be sharing more about the final steps in the redistricting process at our November Board meeting, in the November First Hand and on our website.

Progress on our 2022 Bond Projects continues, including updating playgrounds across our elementary schools. Union Chapel’s makeover happened over the summer, and you can take a look at the results in our Union Chapel Spotlight.