News and Noteworthy Events
Devereux Student Strengths Assessment (DESSA)
We are excited to let you know that your student’s teacher will be participating in the Devereux Student Strengths Assessment (DESSA) Program.
The goal of this program is for teachers and families to identify and enhance a student’s social and emotional learning (SEL) skills, which are essential to academic achievement. Social skills include making and keeping friends, showing respect for others, and resolving disagreements in positive ways. Emotional skills include being able to recognize their own and others’ emotions, and showing healthy self-control.
The DESSA is a strength-based behavior rating scale that measures the social and emotional skills that help students do well in school, at home, and in the community. Your student’s teacher will complete the eight-item strength-based checklist both now and again in the spring based on direct observations of your adolescent’s daily interactions at school. In addition, the teachers may periodically complete this form to monitor a student’s progress throughout the year. Students do not personally complete any part of the skill check, and the program does not affect their classroom learning time.
Teachers will use the DESSA Program to help our youth be more successful in school. In addition, teachers will share information about activities that can be done at home to build social and emotional skills for adolescents. We are working to improve your student’s education by ensuring it meets their unique needs.
Rest assured, protecting personal information in secure and responsible ways is at the heart of our efforts to provide a richer and more dynamic learning experience for all students.
If you have any questions regarding this program, please feel free to contact our social worker, Stacey McGauley (smcgaule@mccsc.edu). If you would prefer that your student’s social and emotional learning skills not be reviewed, please notify Mrs. McGauley before Wednesday, October 23rd.
Please also look for a letter to come home this week with your student.
Flu Clinic
If you would like for your child to participate in the Flu Clinic, please see the documents that were sent home. The deadline for submitting the forms to the health office is October 30, 2019 and the flue clinic date is November 14, 2019.
The following positions are open for the 2019-20 school year:
Coaching:
Football
Girls Basketball (7th)
Swimming
Diving
Non-Certified Support Staff:
Inclusion Para-Educator
Community Based Classroom Para-Educator
Apply Online on the Human Resources page at www.mccsc.edu
