Model and Strategy
Seneca’s UE model seeks to deliver on the unfulfilled promise of public schools across America: that every student - regardless of zip code, (dis)ability, race, or history of trauma - should be supported to learn within an inclusive school environment. While some may take this promise for granted, an alarming number of students experience exclusionary discipline practices - suspension, expulsion, and even incarceration - that displace them from their school community, with low-income students of color disproportionately shouldering the devastating lifelong consequences.
The UE model brings Seneca together with educators dedicated to interrupting the school to prison pipeline. In these schools, Seneca staff bring their mental health expertise to build learning environments that promote healing and wellness. The main focus of partnerships is to empower ALL staff on campus to build genuine relationships with all students - even those that appear the most resistant - and keep them in their classrooms, learning.
With Battery Powered support, Seneca will deepen our work in Oakland during the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years, supporting approximately 1,300 students and 100 staff.
Impact
When Joseph enrolled at one of Seneca’s UE partner schools in Oakland, he had already faced multiple suspensions and the threat of expulsion at previous schools. Joseph was charming and wise beyond his years. He also baffled staff with periodic behaviors that risked the safety of members of the community. At just ten years old, the rejection and failure that he had experienced in school was compounding, making it difficult for him to form trusting relationships with teachers and regulate his behavior.
Too often, students like Joseph come to find school is a place where they are defined by their deficits rather than their strengths. In schools ill-equipped to recognize and meet the emerging and sometimes profound mental health needs of their pupils, students are identified as needing support only after a pattern of failure emerges and drastic intervention is needed. Students are then isolated from their peers, reinforcing patterns of exclusion and culminating in the school-to-prison pipeline.
Through therapeutic services and teacher capacity-building, UE supports Joseph and thousands of other students learn and thrive within inclusive and trauma-informed schools. To measure the impact of this approach, Seneca has partnered with SRI, a world-renowned evaluation firm, with the aim to qualify UE as an evidence-based practice. This designation will open the door for UE to scale and meet the growing demand for integrated student supports nationwide. Seneca expects to realize following outcomes: Students and families feel engaged, resulting in improved attendance • Schools explicitly teach prosocial skills, resulting in reduced discipline referrals • Students spend more time in class, resulting in improved academic achievement • School staff feel effective, reducing turnover.
Leadership
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Ken Berrick
CEO
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Robin Detterman
Executive Director of Education
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Toshia Mears
Director of School Partnerships