Ypsilanti Community Schools are expanding their behavior support programming in two elementary schools. That’s after the district received a grant from the Michigan Department of Education. The grant will be used to bring on staff to work one-on-one with students and communicate with parents.
Dr. Carlos Lopez is the assistant superintendent for Ypsilanti Community Schools. Lopez says many of the staff members in the program are people of color and can help work with students of similar backgrounds.
“So, the program not only is accessible to one-on-one, small group interventions, but really, the power is also in the morning. And in the afternoon, they stay after, so they can talk to parents when parents are dropping off kids.”
The program has already been implemented in middle and high schools within the district. Lopez says they’ve seen success so far.
“This model works. And it works really well. They have adults they can go to, and every child in the district has an adult that they can go to that has their back. And that’s just very, very important because if you don’t feel like that, you don’t feel that you belong.”
One of the benefits of improving a sense of belonging in schools is better attendance rates, which have fallen since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Non-commercial, fact based reporting is made possible by your financial support. Make your donation to WEMU today to keep your community NPR station thriving.
Like 89.1 WEMU on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
Contact WEMU News at 734.487.3363 or email us at studio@wemu.org
