IT TAKES A VILLAGE

BY KIRSTEN PETERSEN

At St. Andrew’s, there is a network of trusted adults who are committed to supporting the whole child – not just the scholar or the athlete or the artist. They include nurses, advisors, diversity, equity, and belonging coordinators, counselors, learning specialists, chaplains, coaches, and our athletic trainer, among others.

These adults are committed to ensuring that students can bring their best, whole selves to school and, when they cannot, receive individualized support that is grounded in our mission to know and inspire each child. The mindset and strategies these teams apply are reinforced and enhanced by the professional development they receive in-house through The Center for Transformative Teaching & Learning.

Establishing trust is key to providing effective support, and all of these adults lay the groundwork for this by actively participating in school life. Every day, students have an opportunity to see them outside of their offices, whether they are teaching, coaching, sponsoring clubs, or attending school functions.

“A big goal of mine is to start those relationships with the kids on the first day of school. You don’t ever want to go to the nurse, or the adult seen in that capacity, for the first time at your worst moment,” said Lower School Nurse Shelley Keneally, who connects with students by staffing morning and afternoon carpools. “You want them to know you and feel comfortable and have that relationship with you from day one, even if they don’t have to see you.”

Lower and Middle School Counselor Alexis Friedlander, LMSW, makes sure she is not perceived as the “stereotypical stigmatized counselor” by playing basketball and football with students at recess, joining students for lunch, leading chapel talks during Jewish holidays, and organizing a March Madness pool for students. Upper School Counselor Robin Foreman, LCPC, visits classrooms, makes announcements during Morning Meeting, and facilitates the Peer Leaders program as ways to help students get to know her outside of her office.

“I want students to know me as who I am, which I feel like is an approachable, warm, funny person,” Foreman said. “I don’t want it to be a huge deal to come into my office. Sometimes I want people to just come by and take a piece of candy or chat and know that I’m a human being, I’m a mom, I was a teacher before this.”

At sporting events, Upper and Middle School Chaplain James Isaacs is one of the loudest cheerleaders for the Lions, and every week he can be spotted at Beach Circle with a smile and a “Happy Chapel Day”

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Continued from page 19 greeting. For him, both efforts fall under the umbrella of pastoral care.

“Each one of those is meeting the students and the people in this community where they are,” Isaacs said. “It’s important that pastoral care is not just during moments of crisis. By having those connections, when there are moments of crisis that emerge for people in the community, it builds on a foundation that has been established during those other moments people have seen me, encountered me, or interacted with me.”

Scott Corkran is the academic dean for the Class of 2029 and has been an advisor for the past 16 years. He’s made it a priority to find and greet every sixth-grade student every day of school.

“I want to make sure all of my students know that they are seen every day,” Corkran said. “I want them to know that there is someone who will greet them in the morning, who will say hi every single time they pass by in the hallways, someone who is their fan, just so they know that there is someone rooting for them and wants them to be successful.”

School Nurses

With this foundation of trust established, staff at St. Andrew’s are then able to provide students with specific, individualized support. While the path to receiving support can begin after a conversation with any trusted adult at school, it often starts in the nurse’s office, when students notice they are feeling unwell or when teachers notice when a student seems off.

“Our goal is to keep students in school, not just to keep them in the building but also to help them function at their optimal level for learning,” Keneally said. “They can be in the building but not be feeling well or having a difficulty, so that affects how much they are able to learn and retain, and how much they are able to feel successful throughout their day.”

As the nurses assess a student’s symptoms, they can quickly identify if they need to treat a physical ailment or something else below the surface.

“Some students come in and complain of something vague, and you talk with them and discover there are family issues, social issues, or stress related to schoolwork or grades that become a big part of the physical symptoms that might show up in my office,” said Upper and Middle School Nurse Diane Stewart. Depending on the stressor, the nurses then connect with parents, counselors, teachers, advisors, or administrators for next steps.

Often, physical symptoms are not a sign of illness, but rather a change in a student’s routine.

“The first thing I check is, ‘Did you eat breakfast this morning? Are you drinking fluids?’ So many times, the kids haven’t eaten breakfast and they’re coming here with a headache or with an upset stomach,” Stewart said. “I’ll go with them and grab fruit from MacDonald Hall, I give them crackers, have them drink some fluids, and sometimes it’s all they need.”

Keneally and Stewart bring compassionate care and attention to the range of ailments that bring students to their doors, from papercuts and glue gun burns, to abdominal pain and COVID-19. Both nurses

Inside the Health Team

Members of the support network in each division gather weekly to talk about the academic, social, and emotional needs of individual students. These health support team meetings are a dedicated space for confidential information sharing that ensures all team members are up to date on a student’s needs. The discussions vary from identifying if students are engaging in rigorous learning to confirming they are prescribed seasonal allergy medication so they can “function at their optimal level of learning,” as Lower School Nurse Shelley Keneally said. Team members bring curiosity and compassion to their observations and feedback, always prioritizing the student’s well-being as they identify the best strategies and interventions.

are critical partners to families, ensuring that students receive prescribed medications throughout the day and staying in touch with families as students navigate chronic health challenges.

“The students are with us eight hours of the day, so we see a lot of things in the building,” Keneally said. “We have to be good communicators to be able to piece those things together and give parents a glimpse into how the whole day comes together for their child.”

Homeroom Teachers & Advisors

In the Lower School, homeroom teachers are the adults in the classroom who will be the first to spot physical, emotional, or mental health changes in students. In the Middle and Upper School, advisors track those changes and are the primary point of contact for families.

“Every adult in this school is here for their child, but it’s nice for parents to know that this specific one is regularly checking in on their 11 advisees,” eighth-grade advisor Sara McAuliffe said.

Advisors support students with managing their academic load and executive functioning, as well as navigating social and emotional challenges. Middle School students gather daily in advisory groups, which functions as a stable social support system, McAuliffe said.

“Students can count on that time. They know that four out of five days of the week they will have an advisory period and they will see each other every single morning,” she said. “Knowing where to go reduces stress, especially at the beginning of the year or when starting as a new student. With advisory groups, spaces, and time, there is no question for a student about where they should spend time in the morning, who they should sit with at lunch, or which adult they should turn to. Those transitions are made a bit easier with advisory.”

As the academic dean, Corkran strives for a seamless partnership with parents that is grounded in their mutual hopes and dreams for the child and advisee.

“The biggest thing is letting the par- ents know that there is someone here who wants the exact same thing for their child as they do, who overall is thinking about providing the best academic and social experience and looking out for their emotional needs,” Corkran said. “When you talk to me, you don’t have to preface the situation. I know the background and I know what you want because that’s what I want, too.”

The relationship extends beyond the current school year. Advisors, like ninthgrade advisor Tracey Goodrich, continue to support their former advisees as they progress through the Upper School.

“Kids come back and still seek me out for math help or advice with friendships or problems with teachers. Literally, they continue to come back even when I don’t teach them anymore,” Goodrich said. “I would do anything for my current students and the kids I advise. They’ve got me for the rest of my life.”

Coaches & Athletic Trainer

For students who play sports, coaches are the adults who can observe and sup-

Continued on page 22 port student well-being when the academic day ends.

Athletic Director Kevin Jones knows that students worry about being coached differently if they disclose physical, mental, or emotional challenges they are experiencing off the field or court. As head boys basketball coach, he encourages his student-athletes to share this information through team bonding activities and dedicated spaces for student-driven conversations, strategies that help to build a culture of trust.

“It’s very important to have those relationships with your scholar-athletes because there are so many things that are going on in their day-to-day lives off the playing field and courts that you need to know. It is going to alter the way you connect with that kid, support them, and help them,” Jones said. “Twenty years ago, coaches would say, ‘I don’t care how your day is going. When you walk into the gym, you need to be ready to go.’ That’s an outdated approach to coaching. You do need to know how your student’s day is going.”

Sports injuries in particular can initiate mental and emotional challenges for students. Because of this, Athletic Trainer Sean Hurney focuses on treating the whole person when they visit his office.

“Injuries are frustrating and stressful. There can be some anger and anxiety behind it, there can be some guilt or blame, and I tell them it’s okay. Those feelings are okay. They are natural,” Hurney said. “Nobody comes into my office and says, ‘I want to be in here.’ There is never a good time to be injured.”

Thanks to Hurney’s relationships with top physicians in the region, including orthopedic surgeon Dr. Samuel Sanders and foot and ankle surgeon Dr. Franklin Polun, families can secure exam and lab appointments shortly after a child is injured, significantly reducing the time families spend waiting for answers.

“I want athletes to be healthy. The worst part of my job is telling people to sit out,” Hurney said. “I want to see you succeed and get you back on the field.”

Diversity, Equity & Belonging Team

The Diversity, Equity, and Belonging (DEB) team at St. Andrew’s helps students feel seen and heard when they feel marginalized and supports them as they advocate for ways to deepen their sense of belonging. In addition to the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Belonging, there are coordinators that support students in each division.

In the Lower School, the DEB team works with parents and faculty to nurture students as they discover and take pride in their identity while also learning about other topics including blind spots, allyship, the power of our words, kindness, having empathy, and creating belonging. Students are encouraged to practice allyship as a way to cultivate a culture of belonging in the Lower School. They are also invited to share their culture and traditions with their classmates; this year, fifth-grade students have led presentations on Hindu celebrations and Lunar New Year.

“We serve as resources for teachers as they work hard to consider every way in which a child in our space might identify so that students can feel that their whole authentic self is welcomed and embraced by fellow students and teachers,” said Sung Hee Kim, First Grade Teacher and Lower School DEB Co-Coordinator. “These ongoing efforts to create belonging are woven into the fabric of our daily classroom routines, purposeful social interactions, as well as our academic work. Our conversations with parents mirror our fully integrated approach to creating belonging as we discuss the well-being of the whole child as part of a school community.”

In the Middle and Upper School, the DEB team ensures students have opportunities to connect with their identity by facilitating the creation of affinity groups, bringing in a diverse range of speakers, and inviting students to give chapel talks and share about their culture and heritage during Morning Meeting.

“I try to support and cultivate a sense of belonging among students by encouraging them to exercise their voice and help them work through challenges,” said Rob Gamble, History Teacher and Upper School DEB Co-Coordinator. “Students will feel more empowered to speak their truths if they feel confident they will be heard, not judged.”

Lorraine Martinez Hanley has been the Director of Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging for the past three years and next year she becomes the Director of Professional Growth and Studies, a role which will oversee the DEB program. Martinez Hanley said that when students are seen for their whole self and can cultivate a sense of belonging within themselves and for others, they can carry it wherever they go.

“You see those students take what they felt was a piece of belonging and community here to their life after St. Andrew’s, even to their university or college,” she said, noting recent alumni who have joined and contributed to affinity groups in college. “That piece of belonging carries beyond the brick and mortar.”

Learning Support

The Education Center was formed decades ago but in recent years has evolved to become a team of teachers working to ensure that students are supported academically. The newly formed Learning Support Center will officially launch in 2023-2024. On any given day, the current Education Center can be a quiet study space accented by the clicks of keyboard tapping or a hub of energetic collaboration electrified with conversation and laughter. This is the atmosphere – “vivacious and vibrant” –that Samantha Speier ’95, Director of the Education Center, strives to encourage.

“This place is not just for kids who have a diagnosed learning disability. This is a place for anyone who wants to better their academic skills,” Speier said, noting that much of her work focuses on coaching students on time management, study skills, and organization. “Anyone can come in this office for five minutes or five years and get those skills that are needed. It’s not just for a certain kind of kid.”

Speier, who will leave St. Andrew’s this summer after two decades of teaching and leading at St. Andrew’s said her role is to listen to Middle and Upper School students and help them strategize a plan to achieve the kind of academic success they are look- ing for. She collaborates with parents to help students actualize those goals. Christina Chalmers currently assists in supporting Middle School students.

“The culture of St. Andrew’s in general is a place where students seek out their teachers for support, so the Education Center is an extension of that philosophy and culture we instill here,” she said. “While there are students who, in the beginning, are reluctant to come in, it quickly dissipates because they realize I’m another person in their life who wants to support them.

“In some ways it’s easier to come to me instead of their teachers. I don’t grade them. I just want to know what’s going on so I can support them, and that takes the pressure off.”

Jennifer (Jen) Shoemaker-Trinh will step into Speier’s role next year as Director of Learning Support. Shoemaker-Trinh is currently the Upper School learning specialist at Stone Ridge.

In the Lower School, one-on-one academic support is provided to students who would benefit from brief learning interventions. This support is offered most often at the start of the school day so that it is the least disruptive to a student’s instructional time.

“Everything we do, all of our decisions, are based on how we can both meet the learning needs of a child and maintain their sense of confidence and belonging within their learning community,” said Teaching and Learning Strategist Christine Lewis. “We are a rigorous academic school, so we don’t reduce the academic expectations. We build in scaffolds to help students reach those expectations.”

Members of the Learning Support Team work in partnership with homeroom teachers to target the concept or skill that needs support while keeping the student moving forward with their cohort, Lewis said.

“All the research points to the fact that the teacher-student relationship is one of the most impactful relationships in early childhood and elementary years. It is better for the child to have their homeroom teacher create an environment where they can do their best learning,” than pull students out of class for academic intervention, Lewis said.

Lewis supports teachers by identifying the cause of behaviors that impact learning (“That’s the key – getting under it,” she says). She helps families understand the connection between what teachers are seeing at school and what families might be seeing and experiencing at home with

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Continued from page 23 their child’s learning.

“We have amazing teachers here, and part of my job is articulating to parents exactly what the teacher is doing and all the strategies that are in place in the homeroom environment. That way, they can understand that the achievement level we are seeing from the child is what is happening when all of this is in place.”

School Counselors

The counselor’s office is designed to be a safe space for students as they navigate challenges with their mental well-being, whether they are in crisis or simply having a bad day. Teachers or friends of a student may refer them to one of the counselors, or they may stop by of their own accord. Behind the scenes, Foreman and Friedlander both collaborate with nurses, teachers, learning specialists, administrators, and families to provide the optimal resources and support for students.

Friedlander leans into the focus of her role – to provide support – to help students feel comfortable sharing with her.

“I say to the kids all the time, ‘You know the one room in this building that you cannot get in trouble in? It’s this one,’” she said. “Regardless of whatever comes out of your mouth, my sole focus is to help you and support you, and to support your parents through helping you.

“I feel like I have the best job on the planet, because my job is to help students and families. Even if I can’t fix what’s going on in their lives or change it, I can help them understand what’s happening and support them.”

It's not just the students who are encouraged to share with the counselors; when families are open about their child’s mental well-being, the counselors can support them as well through engaging in conversations and recommending resources.

“I tell students all the time that I wouldn’t do this work if I didn’t believe that it can get better. I’ve seen it,” Foreman said. “When you’re an adolescent, you can’t see outside of your own world and what’s going on often, especially if you are stuck with feeling anxious or depressed or hopeless. I can see outside of that for them and I hope I am this person who can offer that vision for them.”

Chaplains & Pastoral Care

The chaplains at St. Andrew’s accompany students, families, employees, and even alumni as they anticipate joyful events, like marriage and the birth of a child, or confront life-altering changes, like divorce, job loss, terminal illness, and death. This kind of support is for all members of the community, not just those who identify as Christian (“I’m everybody’s chaplain,” Lower School Chaplain Sally Slater said).

“The pastoral care that I provide, in my mind, is being a presence that represents God’s love in the midst of what is happening for people, and that could take the form of just listening to what people have to share. It could take the form of just sitting with somebody and being present with them or helping them process what is happening and their feelings around it,” Isaacs said. “Then if someone is interested in talking about how their understanding of God or their spirituality connects with the events happening in their lives or around the world, I am also one of the people on campus equipped to do that.”

As students navigate challenges in their lives, the chaplains at St. Andrew’s offer space for students to “explore their belief or non-belief,” Slater said, adding that the opportunity to ask questions is “a blessing of the Episcopal faith.”

“I am here to be a companion with them and walk with them on their journey,” she said. “For people of faith, I invite them to ask, ‘Where is God in this?’”

A major life event is not necessary for the chaplains to provide support. In her religion classes, Slater invites students to participate in a silent check-in by giving a thumbs-up, thumbs-sideways, or thumbs-down. Often, students will share what is happening in their lives following the check-in and may even ask for their name to be added to the prayer list.

“We talk about what is helpful for us when we’re having a hard day. Is it helpful if someone comes up and says, ‘What’s going on?’ Or is it more helpful if they say, ‘I’m sorry it’s hard. Let me know if I can help,’” Slater said. “Then I say, ‘Let’s look around and see which of our friends we need to be gentle with today.’

“Pastoral care means that the children and adults at St. Andrew’s have someone - in my case, me, as one of the school chaplains - to walk with them during times of celebration and times that are more difficult. Not to try to fix things, but rather to be there however they feel is best for them. For some families, this means asking how they are doing and listening to what is going on. For others, it means giving them resources about how young children process loss or death when the beloved family pet dies.”

In all his interactions, Isaacs strives to be a person who students, families, and faculty and staff trust to support them in their most difficult moments. He recalls a phrase he once heard about grief – “Beside each person lay a pool of tears” – and holds it in his mind as he provides pastoral care.

“Everyone is carrying something with them that pastoral care could be helpful for. That’s my sense about everyone in this school,” Isaacs said. “There is nobody I would be surprised to have walk into my office one day and have something that they could use help supporting.”

The members of this support network are all motivated to do their part to help students get what they need – academically, physically, socially, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. They are able to do this work better every year thanks in part to another support team, the leaders within The Center for Transformative Teaching & Learning (The CTTL).

Through workshops and resources from The CTTL, faculty and staff at St. Andrew’s have access to the latest research in teaching and learning, and the best strategies for applying it to how they work with students. Additionally, faculty and staff engage in independent and collective reading from leading researchers like Mary Helen Immordino Yang, David Yeager, Nicole Furlonge, and Zaretta Hammond, and they seek out professional learning and growth conferences such as Learning and the Brain, Stanley King Counseling Institute, and subject-specific conferences. All of this helps them affirm the link between academic achievement and a student's sense of belonging and connection within the school community.

Glenn Whitman, History Teacher, Dean of Studies, and Executive Director of The CTTL, said it is imperative that faculty and staff are equipped with the research and strategies that back and support what they already know intrinsically – that building trusting relationships with students is key to supporting students.

“The idea that building relationships and the sense of academic and social belonging for each student are both teaching strategies is not new for St. Andrew's teachers,” Whitman said. “What is new and growing is the research that The CTTL shares with all preschool to Grade 12 faculty that validates the idea that when students feel seen, safe, challenged, and supported, they have the greatest chance to meet their highest potential.”

Parents Supporting Fellow Lions

An extension of pastoral care at St. Andrew’s is the Lions Care program. Created by Melchora Alexander P’17, Lions Care mobilizes parent volunteers to support St. Andrew’s families, faculty, and staff during moments of both celebration and hardship. Lions Care volunteers have welcomed new babies and new pets, supported injured students, and comforted community members in bereavement. “There is nothing better than giving of ourselves to those who are in need or who just need to know that there is someone who is thinking about them,” Alexander said. “At St. Andrew’s, Lions will always care!”

St. Andrew’s student at the center. Among all the to-dos for this child or teen, from homework and sports practice to music lessons and getting a good night’s sleep, are the family and friends who love and encourage them. Surrounding all of them are the teachers, coaches, and support staff who help the student, and their family and friends, by lending their expertise.

It is because all of these adults can see a student from different angles, and because the student is at the center of it, that the network can be successful, Friedlander said.

One way to think about this network is to imagine it as a busy metropolis with a

“I’m not the only one who is able to help a student. I’m not the only one who could connect with a student,” she said. “As long as a kid has one adult in this building or on this campus that they feel they can trust and is a safe person, whether it is the nurse, the athletic trainer, a coach, someone from DEB, a chaplain, that is what is most important.