2024 CDE Fall Conference: Creating a Landscape of Wellbeing and Belonging

Boulder Valley School District presents the structural framework to incorporate the skills and knowledge of the school nurse to provide comprehensive substance use prevention education, mental health education, and Tier 2 and Tier 3 levels of support and care to students experiencing substance use, and mental health needs. Through a cross collaborative team-based approach, nurses provide essential supports to students. We will look deeper into a school nurse day, their collaborative team structures and district frameworks to elevate the nurse role within the school and classroom.

Session Objectives:

• Understand the school nurse role in mental and behavioral health support
• Apply takeaways to advocate for more involvement from your school nurse to provide comprehensive care and support in the school building.
• Implement leadership strategies to provide the support to school nurses to provide substance use education, prevention and intervention, along with mental health and behavioral health support.

Explore the transformative power of the Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) in enhancing student mental health and academic success. This session delves into the integration of mental health supports across MTSS's three tiers, emphasizing strategic use of interconnected systems frameworks.
Participants will discover how to build a culture of care through Tier 1 supports, apply advanced interventions in Tiers 2 and 3, and harness collaboration for holistic student wellbeing.

Session Objectives:

1-Comprehensive Understanding of MTSS: Master the structure and application of the three-tier support system in MTSS, focusing on specific mental health interventions to enhance student outcomes.
2-Strategic Implementation Skills: Learn to implement foundational mental health supports at Tier 1 and effectively apply targeted interventions at Tiers 2 and 3 to address more complex student needs, including crisis management.
3-Collaboration and Systems Integration: Develop the ability to enhance mental health support through the use of an interconnected systems framework, improving collaboration across educational stakeholders and boosting the efficacy of mental health initiatives.

Regional Collaborative Conversations, Family Resource Centers, and the community schools strategy are impactful family, school, and community partnership initiatives that are playing a critical role in addressing the needs of Colorado’s most vulnerable youth. This presentation will provide an overview of multiple entry-points to serving your most vulnerable populations and ways that the Colorado Department of Education can support local implementation. This session will highlight different approaches to effective family engagement across Colorado and participants will identify strategies that are transferable to their local context and the unique populations that they serve.

Session Objectives:

• Learn about the Colorado Department of Education’s work supporting Regional Collaborative Conversations and Transformational Partnerships, Family Resource Centers, and community schools at the local level.
• Consider elements of family, school, and community partnership success stories of addressing the needs of the most vulnerable youth and families in areas of Colorado with high concentrations of poverty and how it might look in your community.
• Discuss how to support the community. family, school, and community partnership initiatives in your community and identify opportunities for growth.