Health Services
School Health Advisory Council (SHAC)
With the passage of Senate Bill 19 in 2001, Texas made it mandatory for school districts to have a School Health Advisory Council (SHAC). The purpose of the SHAC is to make recommendations to administration in four key areas: health education, physical education and physical activity, nutrition services, and parental involvement. The SHAC helps coordinate the entire health spectrum, people and environment to ensure that students 1) have the resources needed to make healthy choices and 2) are surrounded by an environment that encourages healthy choices. The SHAC meets once a month with the primary purpose of reinforcing the health topic for that month from the Great Body Shop health curriculum. The team also uses tools such as the School Health Index to identify areas in need of improvement and to develop specific action plans. The SHAC reports directly to principal Melissa Chavez.
UT Elementary’s physical education teacher and wellness interventionist, Brian Dauenhauer, coordinates the SHAC for UT Elementary. Also on the SHAC for UT Elementary are:
- Denise Espinosa, Support Staff
- Kerri Fisher, Social Worker
- Arlis Flores, Classroom Teacher
- Melissa Flores, Parent
- Jennifer Hargrave, School Psychologist
- Mina Rios, Interventionist
- Rachelle Vega, School Nurse
- Danielle Zibilski, Physical Educator and Science Teacher
Coordinated School Health Program (CSHP)
The Texas Education Agency requires that each school implement a Coordinated School Health Program. At UT Elementary, the CSHP is an extension of the health curriculum called The Great Body Shop. The program consists of eight interactive components: health education, physical education, health services, nutrition services, counseling, psychological and social services, healthy school environment, health promotion for staff, and family and community involvement. The SHAC serves as the primary implementation team for coordinated school health. The team uses the Great Body Shop implementation and activity booklets to come up with appropriate reinforcement activities each month and documents its progress using the Great Body Shop coordinated school health poster located in the front office. The purpose of coordinated school health is to ensure that students receive a consistent message about the importance of healthy choices in every environment they encounter and to ensure that each environment is set up in a way that allows the students the opportunity to make healthy choices.
Nursing
The nurse is involved in many coordinated health areas. In addition to ensuring the school’s immunization status is in compliance with state requirements, each year the nurse conducts the required vision, hearing, body-mass-index (BMI), and acanthosis nigricans screenings for students of all ages, in addition to spinal screenings for our 5th grade students. Often, the nurse will participate in planning meetings with teachers, administrators, parents, and other service providers as part of a holistic approach UTES takes as a way to help each child work to his or her fullest potential.
The nurse works with the custodial professionals involved in maintaining the health of the school atmosphere, for instance, by ensuring installation of hand sanitizers in numerous locations throughout the school. The school is especially careful with the places where many hands touch: doorknobs, bathroom facilities, telephones, etc. and delivers student education on the importance of hand washing. Also, the nurse is also involved with the safety committee and with the SHAC. At times the nurse becomes involved with case management along with families and health care providers for students with particular health needs, and sees a great number of students in her office daily with complaints ranging from playground injury to illness requiring a doctor’s care. Onsite medication administration is another daily component of the nurse’s job.
As the school grows, we will consider the benefits of having a full-time nurse on staff. This would give us the year-to-year consistency that is so important for the health care of the kids, would allow for more in-depth case management with students’ families, the delivery of health education programs (such as American Lung Associations “Open Airways” for asthma management), and for the continued coordination of intern student nurses. UT Elementary’s part-time nurse is Renee Damron, RN.
Mental Health Services
The school psychologist and school social worker are part of the SEL Team, which works to ensure that the social and emotional needs of every student at UT Elementary School are met. The school psychologist and social worker provide a broad spectrum of strengths-based mental-health services including assessment, prevention, crisis intervention, counseling, mediation, parent/teacher training, consultation, referrals, resource provision, case management and advocacy. The SEL program (link back to page) is instrumental in providing for part of the continuum of the mental health and well-being of our students.
School Psychology
Our school psychologist is developing UT Elementary’s application of the Three-Tier Model for behavior and emotional functioning, based on the 3-tier model used in reading instruction. Tier 1 is a school wide SEL program, Tier 2 includes teacher and parent consultation and pull-out skill building and counseling for at-risk children, and Tier 3 involves behavior intervention plans, counseling, and psychiatric consultation for students with significant behavioral and/or emotional difficulties. The SEL Team will focus on training and coaching staff to implement the core SEL curriculum for all students in Tier 1. Students who fall into Tier 2 and Tier 3 will be treated by the school psychologist or school social worker. The school psychologist also assesses students demonstrating academic, behavioral, or emotional difficulties. Dr. Jennifer Hargrave serves as UT Elementary’s school psychologist.
School Social Work
A school social worker is the link and liaison between schools, families, neighborhoods and the larger communities to which they each belong. At UT Elementary, the school social worker is the part of the SEL Team who ties SEL to family and parental involvement. She currently partners with our kindergarten teacher to hold parent training sessions, such as “How to Communicate with Your Child” and “How to Do Homework With Your Child.” It is very important that the student’s family be involved with their education, both academic and social-emotional. The social worker will also contribute to the SEL program by working with the students who have been identified as Tier-2, with interventions, group pull-out sessions, and peer-mediation. The school social worker also teaches the students social skills lessons and dialogue, and uses important centers in the classroom such as peace tables. The school social worker also trains students nominated by their peers to serve as “peacekeepers.” Kerri Fisher serves as UT Elementary’s school social worker.
School Counselor
The School would like to eventually add a school counselor to the SEL Team. There is a tremendous potential for alliance between counseling, social work, nursing, and the school.
UT Elementary is also happy to have graduate students from the UT School Psychology program completing practicum experiences at UTES. These students will be providing a variety of services such as individual and group counseling, psychological evaluations, family counseling, and consultation."
For more information on health service providers in schools, please see these Web sites:
National Association of School Psychologists
School Social Work Association of American
American School Counselor Association
