Helping students to learn effectively and to develop positive attitudes and behaviors are important complementary goals for teachers and student support staff. However, fulfilling these goals is rarely a simple matter.
Student Support Services include prevention, intervention, transition and follow-up services for students and their parents. Student support services professionals provide direct services for all children and youth within our elementary schools especially those who are experiencing problems that create barriers to learning. Direct services are provided by means such as education, counseling, consultation and individual assessment. In addition, student support services personnel provide in-service training, parent education, community collaboration and carry out student service program management. Student support services are a vital part of comprehensive school program success.
One of the goals of the Student Support Services Division (SSSD) is to help keep parents, families, and the community involved, enabled, and empowered. If every child must learn, then every parent, family and community must be a part of the process.
The Student Support Services Division is the referral point for many of our schools (elementary & secondary) who do not employ a psychologist. Student Support Services in turn will liaise with community and governmental agencies (where and whenever necessary) in the provision of support services to our students.
All referrals are initiated by the Care Teams of the various schools and are signed off by the School Manager/Director.
Should parents have a concern regarding their child, please discuss with the student care coordinator at your child’s respective school so that a referral can be initiated to SSSD if necessary.
VISION, MISSION & GENERAL OBJECTIVE:
Student Support Services provides assistance in empowering students to achieve maximal academic, intellectual, and social growth.
This is achieved by the provision of consultative support to school teams, intervention with students and their parents, and liaison with community agencies.
Vision of SSSD
SSSD is a client-centered organization providing assistance in empowering students to achieve maximal academic, intellectual, social and physical growth in a safe and nurturing environment.
Mission of SSSD
SSSD will achieve its vision through collaboration with stakeholders and the provision of consultative support to school teams; intervention (counseling, testing, therapy, advising, and guidance) with students and their parents; education programs for parents, teachers and students; liaison with community agencies and relevant stakeholders.
In serving students, we will encourage strong accountability by school personnel and parents to monitor and support the development of students and encourage students to be engaged and invested in their own education.
The general objective of the Student Support Services Division (SSSD) is:
TO PROVIDE CARE AND SUPPORT SERVICES FOR STUDENTS FOR THE EFFECTIVE CONTINUATION OF THE DEVELOPMENTAL PROCESS
To attain the above, SSSD has as its core tasks the following:
- To provide assistance (Counseling, advising and support) to pupils/students and their parents;
- To monitor the social and emotional development of students/pupils in collaboration with the schools;
- To test school-age children in connection with special education;
- To provide support for the primary education processes taking into consideration the social and emotional development of the students.
Beliefs
We believe that:
- All students can achieve their personal best given proper instruction, access to services, and support which recognizes individual differences and learning styles.
- Learning requires active participation, mutual respect, and individual accountability of students, teachers, parents and community members.
- Development of the whole person, socially, physically, intellectually and emotionally is critical to success
- All students can learn and deserve to achieve lifelong success academically, personally/socially and in the world of work.
- Working as a team with all individuals involved in our students' lives is the strongest and most effective way to help students build a magnificent future.
Motto
If every child must learn, then every parent, family and community must be a part of the process
GUIDING PRINCIPLES
Student Support Services strives:
- To collaborate with students, their parents, school teams, and community resources to plan and implement effective programming;
- To empower students and colleagues to achieve excellence;
- To employ best practice and current research approaches as a foundation of our work;
- To advocate for the student to be in the most inclusive setting possible;
- To encourage school staff to value the unique cultural and social diversity of students and their families;
- To maintain a collaborative and inter-disciplinary approach when programming for students;
- To promote and model professionalism at all times
- To encourage schools to value confidentiality of and respect for students;
- To support any form of inclusion as a philosophy within the Schools in St. Maarten;
CORE VALUES:
- Confidentiality
- Respect
- Integrity
- Learning
- Caring
TEAMING:
The Student Support Services division values teaming with all stakeholders to facilitate the best programming possible to foster student growth. Regular discussions will be held with school personnel and Student Support staff and typically involve the following:
- Discussion re: student(s)
- Discussion related to school issues
- Service delivery discussion
PARTNERSHIPS & LIASONS:
Student Support Services staff provide a liaison function with many agencies in the community. This is usually for three general reasons:
- Direct service for the student and family
- Planning of a non-specific case nature
- Preventative activity
Services:
Programs/services that will fall under the auspices of Student Support Services include:
- Speech Language Pathology Services
- Psychological Services
- Counseling Services
- Social Work Services
- Educational Diagnostic Services
- Career Guidance Services
- Parent Services
- School Safety Implementation
- School MHPSS in Emergencies services
- Crisis Management Services
- Facilitation of LOE testing
Activities:
Some activities undertaken at the Student Support Services Division include:
- Conducting thorough investigations of cases referred to the Division (including home visits, school visits for observation of students, clinical intake etc).
- Facilitating direct interventions for students or referring them to the relevant agencies where such intervention can be accessed.
- Database management of cases.
- Facilitating training and sensitization workshops to assist school personnel with the necessary tools to deal with some of the issues students present with.
- Facilitating Parents/Guardians/Students’ workshop sessions.
- Conducting Educational Diagnostic testing for Special Education purposes.