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Prioritizing Prevention in Jordan District Schools

In Jordan District, we work together as students, educators, parents, schools, community, and as a District to support student well-being. It takes all of us, together, to prevent suicide, bullying, violence, and substance abuse in our communities. We are all on the same team!

Everyday efforts are the heart of prevention

It's what we do every day that counts with prevention. One-time assemblies, awareness campaigns, walks, and challenges are great, but our most important strategies are reflected in our daily practices.

Looking to create an exceptional plan? Align your everyday prevention efforts with your school's mission and vision statement and translate it into actionable ideas by creating an "everyday intention."

Steps for creating and updating your school community's prevention plan

 

  1. Set aside a specific time to update or create your prevention plan, set a timer if needed to keep everyone on track and focused on finishing the job as efficiently as possible. If you don't finish, you can schedule time another day.
  2. Review the most recent prevention plan your school has created and "make a copy" or highlight what you are planning on continuing for the next school year to ensure that crucial aspects are included in the updated plan. If you "make a copy," be extra critical in deleting aspects of the plan that no longer apply or need to be updated. More clutter to sort through later will delay the planning process.
  3. Review current data and trends. An effective prevention plan addresses the unique challenges your community faces. Reviewing SHARP Data, attendance trends, discipline referrals, SET scores, Panorama data, and critical incidents can offer a clearer idea of what the team is working to prevent.
  4. Review resources available and as well as funding options and commitments for 2024-25 (TSSA, Lands Trust, Prevention Funds) to maximize and coordinate school's resources toward common goals.
  5. Go through the two sections below (core prevention efforts and additional components) to make a descriptive list of "what we do and what we plan to do." Keep in mind, a public prevention plan is not a place for wishful thinking, stick to efforts that can be maintained and implemented. If it's helpful, create another shared document for your "hopes and dreams" that can be used to inspire future efforts.
  6. Put the plan together into a format that is easy to understand and post it on your school's website. Tips for creating and sharing your plan, including a template to use, are at the bottom of this page.
  7. Fill out this brief form by April 5th to secure funding for your 2024-25 prevention efforts

Identify Core Prevention Efforts

  1. What are some of our school’s everyday efforts that proactively and intentionally build students' social, emotional, and behavioral skills?
    • What do we do and what do we plan to do?
    • Examples include: School-wide tier one social and emotional learning curriculum, school-wide expectations with coordinated reinforcement strategies (PBIS), rotations that teach specific skills, school teams and systems that coordinate tiered supports (MTSS), Response To Intervention (RTI) practices, wellness room implementation, integrated opportunities to practice emotion regulation, mindfulness practices, social skills instruction, etc.
    • Resources: JSD SEL CURRICULUM EXPO 2024 Summary
  2.  What are some of our school’s everyday efforts that enhance “protective factors” (e.g. confidence, emotional safety, connection/belonging, regulation, social and relational skills) and reduce “risk factors” (e.g. isolation, low attendance, academic failure, unmet physical and emotional needs, untreated mental illness, barriers to learning, inadequate support)?
    • What do we do and what do we plan to do?
    • Examples include: School-wide tier one social and emotional learning curriculum, school-wide expectations with coordinated reinforcement strategies (PBIS), attendance interventions, community building and restorative practices implementation, school mental health team coordination, student clubs and leadership teams, attendance interventions, student recognition, school teams and systems that coordinate tiered supports (MTSS), etc.
    • Resources: Protective Factors Framework
  3. How do we partner with parents, students, and our community in our prevention efforts?
    • What do we do and what do we plan to do?
    • Examples include: PTA campaigns, "what we're doing for student wellness" Skylerts, social media, including student leadership groups, hosting parent nights, community coalition involvement, assemblies, coordinating resources and involving community partners, etc.

Identify Additional Efforts

The broad, school-wide everyday efforts outlined above are the heart of ALL prevention (suicide, bullying, violence, substance abuse, etc.). This section is meant to support you in teasing out and clarifying efforts specific to suicide, bullying, and violence.

Suicide Prevention

  • How do we (or how do we plan to) train adults and students (as appropriate) to recognize, respond, and report when another member of the school community may be experiencing suicidal ideation?
  • How do we (or how do we plan to) proactively intervene to support individuals who may be at risk of suicide?
  • Examples include: HopeSquad, Sources of Strength, staff QPR training, parent information nights, community partnerships, student lessons or rotations taught by school mental health team, etc.
  • Resources: JSD Brief Suicide Prevention Training Video, LiveOn Suicide Prevention Resources, LiveOn Playbook

Bullying Prevention

  • How do we (or how do we plan to) train adults and students (as appropriate) to recognize, respond, and report when another member of the school community may be experiencing bullying?
  • How do we (or how do we plan to) proactively intervene to support individuals who are targets, aggressors, or witnesses to bullying?
  • Examples include: School-wide bullying prevention curriculum (Stop, Walk, Talk), books and push in lessons on empathy and problem solving skills,
  • Resources: JSD Brief Bullying Prevention Training Video, Bullying Support Protocol (B.S. Pro), Bullyology (coming soon)

Violence Prevention

  • How do we (or how do we plan to) train our students and staff to recognize, respond, and report threats of violence?
  • How do we promote and ensure access to anonymous reporting tools (i.e. SafeUT)?
  • How do we assess threats of violence and ensure safety?
  • How do we (or how do we plan to) proactively intervene to support individuals who are targets, aggressors, or witnesses to violence?
  • Examples include: C-STAG training for a school threat assessment team,
  • Resources: JSD Brief Training Video (coming soon), C-STAG Decision Tree, Threat Assessment Survey Tool

Put it all together

You're almost there! Put all your notes of what you do and what you plan to do into a clear, simple plan that can be understood by any community member. Here is an example of how to simplify and clarify language: rather than "we meet weekly for MTSS," try "our student wellness team meets weekly to discuss ideas for student supports and to coordinate resources for each student in need."

As a reminder, a public prevention plan is not a place for wishful thinking, stick to efforts that can be maintained and implemented. If it's helpful, create another shared document for your "hopes and dreams" that can be used to inspire future efforts.

Use this template, which has several District initiatives and simplified language included for ease.

Here is a simple way to post your prevention plan on your school's website

  1. Once your Prevention Plan Google Document is ready to publish, remove editors from the "share" settings or make a copy that is on one person's account who is responsible for maintaining the prevention plan.
  2. In the Google Doc, click "File" and scroll down to "Share" and click "Publish to Web."
  3. Use the link in the "Publish to Web" window as a direct link for your website. You can create a menu item that links directly to that link. For help with this process, connect with JSD Communications.

Fill out your prevention plan funding form by April 5th

Pat yourself on the back

This truly is lifesaving, essential work, keep it up! Every little effort, every day, matters, no matter how small it feels!