Insights into Our Community School Team Efforts
Our team is currently developing important methods to sustain and maintain social and emotional learning as well as important assessment models for kids and families during this challenging launch of a remote school year.
We asked our Early Childhood and Community School team leaders to share a bit about their current efforts. Here’s what Cat Anthony, Hallie Atwater, Linda Callahan, Clare Donofrio, Russell Elmore, Mariel Pfister, and Meaghan Tine are planning.
It's never too early to learn literacy skills! The Eutaw-Marshburn Judy Center playgroup enjoyed Lunch on the Lawn meetups. We'll continue these outdoor sessions as long as possible.
Can we agree that once this pandemic is far behind us, that we hope to never again hear the word “unprecedented”? Yes, its overuse quickly became tiresome last spring, yet, in the case of educators attempting to reimagine all forms of learning during the past six months, the word seems spot-on.
As well--the extra demands that COVID-19 placed on social workers who were already laser focused on working within communities of children and adults, struggling with systems mired in extraordinary racial inequities--“unprecedented” also accurately describes our work. Simply put, the efforts expended by our Promise Heights team are magnificent, for they’ve ramped up social and emotional learning, family resource allocation, and partner supports that are usually dependent on working in close proximity with our key constituencies. How does one maintain and restore the trust and intimacy that are so essential for social work when we are held to work within a virtual environment?
You will want to hear directly from our Early Childhood and Community School leaders, as they have their fingers on the pulse of the demands of this time and are sharing crucial insights and how to practice social work during a pandemic.
Furman L. Templeton Preparatory Academy
Linda Callahan, LMSW
Early Childhood Mental Health Consultant
It feels like this year, a lot of our work is going to be more focused on parents than ever before, just because we’re not going to be with the kids, all day and every day in the classroom. We’re going to have limited virtual contact with the children. So, we’re really thinking about how do we equip parents—how do encourage parents, how do we support parents—so that they don’t burn out? We want to be sure they feel confident in the job that they have been given.
Families all are going to have different scenarios and different needs, in terms of who’s working, who’s not working, who has childcare, who’s got internet, who’s internet keeps going out, how many kids are in the house. So, there are a lot of pieces that parents are going to have a lot of anxiety around, and are going to need assistance, whether technical or emotional. Whatever way we can boost them up to be able to do this, we’re there to offer support.
I have no question whether they’ll be able to teach their children, especially young children. For the kinds of things they’ll need to learn, I have no question that they can do that. It may be a matter of confidence, or just realizing that what they’re already doing is teaching their children, or they just might need some additional ideas for how to supplement learning at home. That’s what I feel will be the major difference for me—it’s going to be a lot more parent-focused.
When I think about what it will mean for our kids to be studying remotely, I see a variety of positives. For example, for some children, it may be easier for them to learn when they are not in a classroom full of other children. For some, the rules and social skills required may be challenging. For others who are easily distracted, it might actually turn out better for them to be at home, since virtual learning may allow them to have more concentrated attention of an adult than is possible in a full class.
Meanwhile, I’m so happy to report that we’ve got a dream team at Furman. Ms. Ladaisha Ballard, our new school principal is an amazing leader, and Ms. Kimberly Davis has moved up to be our Assistant Principal. She was a tremendous classroom teacher, and now she will be a mentor to all of our teachers. I’m excited to see what their leadership brings to our school.
At this point, our enrollment is building—we keep getting more students every day. As of this writing, we have over 25 Pre-K students and 65 K students enrolled, so our classes are filling up even though some families may be reluctant to enroll due to virtual learning.
I do empathize with parents and how difficult it is—remote learning. We see all sorts of interruptions during virtual meetings. The technology can be challenging and frustrating when it doesn’t work as it should. We miss a lot of important communication pieces by not being in person. We will really need to attend to facial expressions on screen and what is going on in the background and provide feedback and support offline when we can.
Teachers…parents…students: they’re all still figuring things out. I think the Furman team has done a great job preparing for this season, and if we all work together, I know we can be successful.
Furman L. Templeton Preparatory Academy
Meaghan Tine, LMSW
Community School Director
I’m experiencing the virtual school setting as brand new [for me as a parent], just as everybody else is experiencing it—this virtual school experience is brand new for everyone. I think we’re both doing the best that we can in the situation that we’re forced to do. We’re thankful that we have our family and friends, and a little bit of solitude to recharge—you know, those few fleeting moments with the kids in the time before bed, or the kind of silence when everyone is enjoying their food and you’re not making three different meals, or the naps in the back of the car when you’re driving—when everyone seems to be napping at the same time. Those are the little special times I cherish. Connecting with other people has been helpful too, plus putting yourself first and not feeling guilty about it. I share experiences and connectedness. [We are all going through various kinds of remote learning,] and that shared experience connects me with other moms.
[Regarding COVID] I’d like to see new structures and systems—stop trying to fit a circle into a square. Let’s reinvent what it means to engage with people, what it means for teachers to teach from home. To reinvent all of our norms, and to not fit into this presumed “box.” That is what I’m hopeful for, and I feel that this time has made collaboration and communication so much more important. I think as a site and school partner to Furman, that we’ve really stepped up to our commitment.
[Regarding each Promise Heights staff in the five community schools,] we’re all doing tech distribution and we’re all connecting with families through Facebook. Normally we’d have been in school by now, and we’d have started our year at the beginning of August. But now we’ve shifted to the end of August because we wanted to be sure that all of the things were in place so that everyone would be well prepared: students, school staff, families, our team, other partners—we’d all be prepared for school to start on August 31st.
Another part, if [the pandemic] does go on longer and longer, I wonder if there are areas of support that we might be missing—that’s part of the job that’s very scary. Yet the parents that we are engaging with—they are making such a big difference because they are leaders in the community. Knowing that we’re working with the true leaders of the community, it makes me hopeful that the outcomes will be better.
Eutaw-Marshburn Elementary School
Clare Donofrio, LMSW
Early Childhood Mental Health Consultant
Last year was my first year starting the school year at Eutaw-Marshburn, and I remembered that I was stressed at the exact same time last year. This will be my third school year, though it’s only my second time beginning the school year because I joined Promise Heights in mid-October, 2018. The biggest difference post-COVID is that we've relied on virtual communication to build relationships. Relationship building is such a big part of these first few weeks of the new school year, both with new staff, our new PromiseCorps and intern teams, new school staff in the school buildings, and students and families. It has been hard since due to COVID, we haven't been able to meet in person.
I work with Pre-K and Kindergarten kids, and a lot of them are new to the school. Usually we have the opportunity to meet them when they come into school for registration, which helps us get a sense of who’s going to be in the classes long before school actually starts. But this year, we haven't been able to do any of that!
One thing we’ve done to ameliorate that has been to host our Judy Center summer playgroups outside. We’ve hosted these events every Thursday in August and called them “Lunch on the Lawn” gatherings. That has made it possible for us to meet some of our new Pre-K and Kindergarten students. It has also given the families an opportunity to meet us and allow us to provide support with the online school registration process, because that has been really difficult for families to navigate.
I can imagine that at this point, during daytime, older family members like grandparents are taking care of the Pre-K kids in their families, or maybe they're going to daycare. Pre-K is not mandatory, so whatever environment they're in—whether it's grandma's house or childcare—will that person be able to help these kids with virtual learning? I spoke with one of our daycare providers who said that she doesn't know what she’ll do since all of the kids in her care are 7 years old or younger. Since each kid is expected to be online and she’s the only adult there, that's another really huge challenge for families as well!
Eutaw-Marshburn Elementary School
Russell Elmore, LMSW
Community School Director
My main priority since moving to Baltimore this past summer has been to meet with school staff and partners to understand the school and community environment as best as I can (given the limited time and virtual setting imposed by the pandemic.)
During the past few weeks, I’ve been getting to know our dedicated PromiseCorps volunteers and new MSW interns, which has been great. Meanwhile, my daily tasks have been to assist our partners who’ve been gathering school supplies, and calling families at EMES to ensure we’ll count all families who need technology, whether laptops or hotspots, so that they would be equipped before school starts.
Everybody seems fairly anxious about this new (remote) school year. Teachers, students, parents, and administrators all are feeling uncertain about what this coming school year holds. Given the pandemic, I think it's important to normalize these feelings while continuing to do our best to provide the best opportunities for our families and students.
I’m also so grateful to have a team of returning PromiseCorps volunteers since they bring invaluable experience with Eutaw and our students. They care so genuinely and deeply about our students' well-being, which is so important. Meanwhile, our current Promise Heights staff have also been an extremely valuable resource for me since I’m transitioning into my role as Eutaw’s new Community School Director.
I feel like my experience in community mental health settings with families and children between birth and age 19 will be essential, whether I’m doing assessments, managing brief and solution-focused interventions, or following-up on case management that connect families with community resources. So, while things are uncertain and very stressful, I feel confident that my team, plus the PH and EMES staff, will working as hard as we can to best support our students and their families.
The Historic Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Elementary School
Catherine Anthony, LMSW
Community School Director
I’m a Philadelphia native and graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with my Bachelors Degree in Psychology. Initially, I had my sights set on being a chemistry major and pursuing medical school. Yet I found myself more in social policy and psychology classes, so quickly changed my major during my junior year. During the last semester of my senior year, I began a service year with Public Allies Pittsburgh, an AmeriCorps program. Though many sleepless nights juggling that work, my passion for true community engagement and uplift was ignited. I took a step further, to pursue my Masters in Social Work with both a Clinical and Macro focus on Health from UMB. After graduation, I sought careers with community-centered organizations and became a licensed social worker, so my decision to join the Promise Heights team came without hesitation.
I arrived at Promise Heights right as the Baltimore City Public Schools transitioned to distance learning, so I had to adapt to what everyone referred to as “the new normal” while figuring out what that truly meant for our Community School team and—more importantly—for our students and families who needed us most.
Since March, our HSCT team has risen to the occasion time and time again. We’ve gotten creative in using popular apps and social media to engage families and students, aiming to keep them excited about learning, creative activities, and StoryTime, while also showing the seriousness of the pandemic. We’ve taken on an approach that was honest but less scary than stories that the news stations were covering.
Additionally, we’ve supported families as they trusted us with other needs that impacted their livelihood, from food distributions, securing internet and technology devices, and resource sharing—just to name a few. I’m really proud of all that we have done this year.
What’s different is that this has been unlike any other school year we’ve experienced before now. The first day pictures, smiles from eager children, and excitement that comes when connecting to both new and old students and staff alike are things we’ve really missed as the school year has launched!
We’ve created strategic plans to make the most of the time kids are spending at home. We’ve been supporting families and students as they learn and grow during this challenging year, while simultaneously keeping it light with family-friendly activities such as movie and paint nights. Basically, this year is completely unique, yet so is our HSCT team.
Booker T. Washington Middle School for the Arts
Mariel Pfister, LCSW-C
Community School Director
I started at Promise Heights in the spring of 2018, so I've been at Booker T. Washington for two and a half years. At this point I’m starting my third full school year, which is really exciting. I'm excited to bring more institutional knowledge at this point and handle the workload better now that I know what I'm actually facing as the school year starts.
In many ways, this time is going to force us to look at our existing accessibility in the school building and then think critically about how to make things even more accessible for our families. I'm hoping that’ll carry over, and by this time next year when we look back, we’ll say, ”Wow! We did a much better job of engaging parents!”
Now that we’ve gone virtual, I'll be regularly checking in with students to see if someone seems to be struggling. If we see that, we’ll reach out to the family and see what support we can offer, or maybe use targeted case management. Since my Assistant Community School Director and I are licensed clinical social workers, we’re ready to provide robust services to our families and make appropriate referrals. I definitely rely heavily on my team—not just traditional school staff or even my colleagues at Booker T. Many people have eyes and are talking with students…even other parents and other students, so I’m very lucky the parents of Booker T Washington are so fabulous!
This year, Lucy is our Lead PromiseCorps member. She’ll keep attendance and be a student support monitor for the entire 8th grade. She'll join their virtual classrooms and pay attention, and teachers can ask her to provide Friday activities or mental health workshops. We were planning an intervention block this year, so another great thing is having a more flexible online schedule, as we've finally been able to implement this intervention block that we haven't offered in the past. There will also be specific spaces for tutoring and social/emotional learning in small groups for kids who are struggling in areas like self-management or self-esteem.
Usually by now, we’d have our local church come in and donate items to our kids and we’d get to hand them off to students. We can't replicate that this year with school supplies, so we're having to get creative on how we're going to do school supply distribution and find families who want to receive school supplies. In the past, we usually planned programs that offered mentoring, so we’re looking at ways to adapt our mentoring—perhaps leading small groups in the virtual world. Also, throughout the year, we’ve offered events for the whole school, like our showcases for the different art classes, where students give performances. Obviously, that's a whole school event, and gatherings like that were cancelled due to COVID. Yet we're still offering an anti-bullying summit that was planned for the whole school, though can be split with smaller virtual groups.
I'm definitely excited for how this year will shake up family and community engagement. I think that, nationally, we haven't yet cracked the code on how to best do parent engagement with middle school and high school families—especially for middle schoolers. I've been thinking that leaning more towards social media and heavily towards virtual family engagement—that will work much better for my families. I have parents who work two jobs, so having increasing access and not planning events for moms at 9:00 am on a Tuesday is great, since now we can invite them to attend virtual meetings.
I'm also excited about expanding on accessibility with parents via good communication. I think that another side effect of this pandemic is that it has increased our communication and collaboration with each other, because now we’re in front of our computers all day and sending emails all day—so many emails! So, this is a really good time to look critically at how we're communicating with everyone and tighten up our communication.
I really hope we’ll build some momentum for our next school year, when we are back in person. You know, to look forward to being completely strategic and data driven in our practices. I'm so excited about that!
Renaissance Academy High School
Hallie Atwater, LCSW-C
Community School Director
I’m a clinical social worker with experience working in child welfare, maternal child health, and survivors of sexual assault and intimate partner violence. I’ve been with Promise Heights for five years at Renaissance Academy High School. I’m really proud of the work that we have been a part of at Renaissance, specifically our recent work to support sexual health education, as well as pregnant and parenting students.
Although all of us have been isolated during this time of physical distancing to keep everyone healthy, our partnerships with Planned Parenthood, B’more for Healthy Babies, and the Judy Center at Eutaw-Marshburn have allowed us to provide critical support to individual students and their families. Body autonomy and informed consent are the building blocks for desired change, and we’ve been communicating that as one of our key messages.
I think that flexibility and resourcefulness will be paramount assets for our team this coming fall. Our students and families deserve all of the support and warmth that we were able to provide in-person before the pandemic, and now we must work together to continue providing that genuine support and warmth from a distance.