🐺Empowering Every Learner: The Impact of Westside’s Student Support Team

 

I have been a part of the Westside community since 2017. I deeply appreciate the school’s unfailing commitment to uphold its values, and I am proud of and grateful for our investment in student support, which includes both counseling and learning support. The commitment from our Board of Trustees and Head of School to grow the student support department from two to seven, starting in the fall of 2022, has had a tremendous impact on our students and has helped to amplify our school’s values in action.

 

Westside’s caring community is evident in many spaces throughout our program, and part of what allows us to see, know, and value each of our students more fully is the presence of our student support team. Every student in our building is positively impacted by student support in one way or another, whether through classroom SEL lessons in early learning and lower school, a small group in middle school to support or stretch their learning, or the intentional co-planning our team undertakes regularly with classroom teachers. Our student support team works tirelessly to support both teachers and students, and their presence in our building exemplifies the value of a caring community.

 

The student support team also helps bring our value of high academic standards to life. They support teachers in making learning more accessible for all of our students through differentiation, intentional classroom structures, and an increased understanding of neurodiversity. They work to ensure that students are met where they are and help them build skills at their appropriate level of challenge. High academic standards mean that we expect all our students to achieve their own personal best, and both the learning support team and our counselors make it possible for us to tailor our program to our students rather than expect our students to fit into our program.

 

A truly differentiated program that meets students where they are allows for more students to become confident learners. Traditional schooling is based on a one-size-fits-all approach, and those models have historically sent a message to students who learn differently that school is not for them. While Westside has never taken the one-size-fits-all approach, having a team of dedicated educators who focus on making our program more accessible means that more of our learners feel empowered and find success.

 

These three core values underpin the fourth - joyful learning. When students are seen, known, and valued when they are held to standards that acknowledge their own unique profiles as learners, and when they are given the tools to become confident in their learning, joy follows. Our student support team embodies and supports all of Westside’s values, and by doing so, it allows students to learn, grow, and thrive in a place where learning is filled with joy.

 

I am endlessly grateful for Westside’s entire team of dedicated educators, but the impact of our school’s commitment to student support reminds me every day why this place is so special. If you’d like to learn more about the student support team, please reach out to Adam Elder, Director of Counseling and Social-Emotional Learning, or me to learn more. We have the pleasure of co-leading the student support team and are incredibly proud of the work our team does every day.

 

In appreciation,