School Mental Health Project
Article of the Month
July 2003
Transition to a New School Year
The “article” this month is a 600+ page guidebook called What Schools Can Do to Welcome and
Meet the Needs of All Students and Families. The description of the guidebook from the UCLA
Center of Mental Health in Schools describes the guidebook as follows:
This guidebook offers program ideas and resource aids that can help address some major barriers that interfere with student learning and performance. Much of the focus is on early-age interventions; some is on primary prevention; some is on addressing problems as soon after onset. The guidebook includes the following: Schools as Caring, Learning environments; Welcoming and Social Support: Toward a Sense of Community Throughout the School; Using Volunteers to Assist in Addressing School Adjustment Needs and Other Barriers to Learning; Home Involvement in Schooling; Connecting a Student with the Right Help; Understanding and Responding to Learning Problems and Learning Disabilities; Response to Students' Ongoing Psychological and Mental Health Needs; Program Reporting: getting Credit for All You Do and; Toward a Comprehensive, Integrated Enabling Component.
Listed below are the chapter titles and the link to the
web page at which each is located. Recommended chapters for the topic of
transition to a new school year are the Introduction and Unit 1. Unit 2 is
also helpful in that it discusses the use volunteers to help make the school
more welcoming. In Unit 3, some of the material discusses how to make the
school welcoming to parents.
Table of
Contents
http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/WELMEET/Heading%20and%20Table%20of%20Contents.pdf
Introduction: Schools as Caring, Learning Communities
http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/WELMEET/Introduction.pdf
Unit 1 - Welcoming and Social Support: Toward a Sense of
Community Throughout the School
http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/WELMEET/UnitI.pdf
Unit 2 - Using Volunteers to Assist in
Addressing School Adjustment Needs and Other Barriers to Learning
http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/WELMEET/UnitII.pdf
Unit 3 - Home Involvement in
Schooling
http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/WELMEET/UnitIII.pdf
Unit 4 - Connecting a Student with
the Right Help
http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/WELMEET/UnitIV.pdf
Unit 5 - Understanding and
Responding to Learning Problems and Learning Disabilities
http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/WELMEET/UnitV.pdf
Unit 6 - Response to Students' Ongoing
Psychological and Mental Health Needs
http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/WELMEET/UnitVI.pdf
Unit 7 - Program Reporting: getting
Credit for All You Do
http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/WELMEET/unitVII.pdf
Coda - Toward a Comprehensive,
Integrated Enabling Component
http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/WELMEET/Coda.pdf
Appendix
http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/WELMEET/AppendixA.pdf
An additional helpful item is a table entitled Outline of
Welcoming Steps and Activities and can be found at the following web
address:
http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/FALL97.HTM