San Carlos School District HSI Newsletter Spring 2021

HSI NEWSLETTER SPRING 2021

Care Solace Brings Extra Mental Health Support to San Carlos Thanks to the Sequoia Healthcare District and the San Mateo County Office of Education, all San Carlos families can take a shortcut to find quality mental health care in our area.

WHAT: Care Solace is a mental health

coordination service.

WHY: Often it is difficult to navigate the mental

health services to find providers who can meet your needs. This service makes those phone calls and emails on your behalf so you can access the care you need more quickly and effectively.

HOW: Care Solace serves the role of navigating

How it works: They generate a short list of providers who have been vetted and then the individual can book the appointment on their own.

Our school counselors, psychologists, and mental health associates have all been trained to access care on behalf of a student through the Care Solace self-serving tool dashboard. They would use this service for situations that aren't educationally related, or when the school-based resources SCSD has are not suited to the need.

Jennifer Smith in HR is trained to help staff access the service, but staff can access services confidentially. (There is no staff dashboard).

The service is completely HIPAA and FERPA compliant and Care Solace does not have any financial relationship with any providers.

the sometimes complicated world of mental health care. They operate similar to the way a

HOW MUCH: San Carlos School District doesn't pay

concierge at a hotel will book a reservation for

anything for this service as it is part of our grant with

you, except in this realm, they find you mental

Sequoia Healthcare District. Individuals pay for the actual

health providers that fit the mental health topic

mental health appointments using their own insurance,

you are trying to address, your financial/ insurance

including Medicaid/Medi-Cal.

situation, primary language providers, and other special considerations.

During the intake process with a Care Concierge, if it is determined that the family does not have insurance, Care

WHO: Access to Care Solace is available to our

entire student population, staff, as well as their families. They are contracted to support all 23 school districts in San Mateo County thanks to funding from Sequoia Healthcare District, Peninsula Healthcare District, and the SMCOE (who manages the contract).

Solace finds sliding-scale providers.

Contact Care Solace 24/7 888-515-0595 caresolace.com/scsd to start an anonymous search Please note: Care Solace is not an emergency response service or mental health services provider. In the event of a life threatening emergency, please call 9-1-1 or the National Suicide Hotline 1-800-273-8255.

HSI NEWSLETTER SPRING 2021

Outdoor Learning for Health & Happiness Now, more than ever, the San Carlos School District (SCSD) appreciates and understands the positive impact that nature and simple daily outdoor experiences have on health and human development. Moments of quiet contemplation while reading a good book in the open air are somehow more transformative. Sitting under a shade tree, or on a beach towel in the grass makes a class discussion feel special and connected. The bridge to creativity and imagination is shorter when the senses are inspired with fresh air and a wooden bench or a stump stool. We are fortunate to say that the pandemic has created an incredible opportunity to make outdoor learning more frequent, which means our students and faculty feel

Thanks to the partnerships with our Parent Teacher

the mental, physical and emotional boost of

Associations and Each Green Corner, all of our SCSD

outdoor learning.nd other special considerations.

schools have a variety of outdoor spaces to enjoy. Now those school gardens, reading patios, wild zones and

Ours is a school district that has long taken the

shaded nature areas have been further enhanced to

responsibility of environmental adaptation and

provide safer learning spaces while also helping to

sustainability seriously. All of our Facilities Master

alleviate food insecurity. Each Green Corner volunteers

Plans involve reducing blacktop surfacing and

were able to use the growing spaces on our campuses

increasing permeable surfaces that both prevent

to harvest over 1,200 pounds of food that was donated

water pollution and maximize the capture of our

to local nonprofits in this year. They also installed

precious water resources through biodynamic

mobile white boards and flexible seating to make it

swales, rain gardens and rain barrels. So far, we have

possible for our educators to present material that

been able to replace at least 100 square meters of

would otherwise be challenging in a remote or indoor

space at each school site with either a garden, a

environment. We are proud of the fact that these

“wild zone”, and/or outdoor learning spaces. These

investments of past years have boosted our ability to

efforts gained recognition through the prestigious

transition more classrooms outdoors now that it has

Green Ribbon Schools Gold Award in 2018, and

become imperative for the health and wellbeing of our

recently the City and County Association of

students and staff due to the pandemic. We are

Governments selected SCSD to be the recipient of a

utilizing all of the solar shade structures on our

$97,000 grant that will fund full concept design

campuses for either outdoor classrooms or COVID

plans for climate resiliency for at least three of our

testing spaces. We have purchased large tents to

campuses.

enhance shade for our outdoor classrooms.

HSI NEWSLETTER SPRING 2021 Students and families are not only learning outdoors, they are learning about the outdoors. Thanks to all of the support of the San Mateo County Office of Education’s Environmental Literacy Initiative, many of our teachers have created their own Project Based Learning units integrating Next Generation Science Standards and the California Blueprint for Environmental Literacy to create meaningful opportunities for engagement and activism.

Right before the pandemic, student leadership groups at both of our middle schools enacted a ban on single use water bottles. Tierra Linda Middle School students and staff built a large rain garden as a demonstration site for rain water conservation and the beauty of native plants.

This winter, students continued their enthusiasm for sustainability and environmental education independently through Rights Of Passage Experiences (ROPEs) projects that have long been a tradition for our fourth, sixth, and eighth grade students. This year those projects included everything from making windmills, reporting on climate change, gardening, raising bees, gathering trash from the ocean, restoring deer habitats, and conserving water.

While none of us would have ever imagined the transformative effects of the Pandemic, we are proud to say that our focus on outdoor learning and environmental sustainability have made adapting to these trying times more rewarding. We appreciate all of the support of the community and especially that from the SMCOE who has built such a wonderful pedagogical foundation for our faculty to approach education with a solution-oriented mindset.

MESSAGE FROM SEQUOIA HEALTHCARE DISTRICT Dear Healthy Schools Initiative (HSI) families, Wearing masks and social distancing have become the social norm and they have made our communities

Please contact your healthcare provider, doctor, clinic, or school nurse, should you have questions about the safety of the vaccine.

safer, healthier, and more tuned into protecting those

I'd like to extend a special thanks to the HSI Wellness

who are most vulnerable. Vaccines have become

Team for their coordinated efforts in their respective

increasingly available, yet they are still beyond reach

districts' re-opening process. I am extremely proud of

for far too many members of our community – a

our collaborative efforts to bring timely and relevant

health equity issue that the Sequoia Healthcare

initiatives, programming, resources, and financial

District is currently addressing. Also, there are some

support to the school community.

who are concerned about the safety of the vaccines, and SHD is one of many health organizations aiming to educate the public about the necessity of being

Karen E. Li, MD Director of School Health Healthy Schools Initiative

vaccinated with the reassurance that this will not only protect them, but their loved ones as well.

Parent Resources

Additional information to help safeguard your family and community

Substance Use Prevention

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI)

Stanford Prevention Toolkit: Cannabis

The Anti-Racist Parent Webinar

San Mateo COVID-19 Vaccine Updates

Cannabis Use and the Young Brain - Dr. Tauheed Zaman

Courageous Conversations About Race and Systemic Racism

Vaccine Safety Spanish Community Forum

Addiction Webinar Dr. Anna Lembke

Diversity in Healing Bandages

Vaccine Safety Vaccine PSA

The Parent Education Series

NEW Parent Forums: Spanish & English Video Library

See Something Say Something Do Something

Parent Green Folders

Spanish & English

CircleUp Trainings in Schools

NEW 24/7 Mental Health Online Resource for All County Students, School Staff & Families

Care Solace