A diverse community of lifelong learners in Lacey, Washington
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Student Support
NTPS Student Support aims to remove barriers to student learning by supporting various aspects of a student's life, including social-emotional learning, mental health, academic counseling, health services, and more. We support and facilitate community resources for our unhoused and foster care students and families.
Each school health room is staffed daily by a health room assistant, with registered nurses assigned one or more days a week to oversee procedures that can only be performed by a licensed practical nurse or registered nurse. Health rooms manage required paperwork, medications, and doctor's orders through the student information system that need to be on file before the start of school, such as EpiPens, diabetes orders, supplies, and critical medications.
School nurses also facilitate vision and hearing screenings, ensure immunization compliance, and serve as part of a team in determining students who may need additional support.
Visit your school's website to find the names and contact information of individual health room staff.
NTPS has a mental health specialist assigned to each of our schools. These professionals are either school social workers or school counselors who have specialized training in the mental health field.
They provide preventative education on mental health, facilitate small therapeutic groups, work one-on-one with students in need of short-term mental health support, connect students and families to community resources, and respond to mental health crises as referred by the school counselor.
PBIS is a proactive approach to increasing positive student behavior through direct instruction. In every NTPS school, staff teach behavior expectations to students framed around social traits such as responsibility and respect, and students receive positive recognition for following these expectations. Those who have difficulty with learning behavior expectations are provided additional instruction in small groups or one-on-one.
PBIS is a key part of our Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) that ensures all NTPS students have access to not only academic support but behavior support, including social skills training, problem-solving, and conflict resolution. MTSS aims to intervene early and prevent academic failure and encourage students to succeed.
Social-Emotional Development: Maximize each student's individual growth and social maturity in the areas of personal management and social interaction.
Academic Development: Maximize each student's ability to think critically and creatively, engage in their learning, access rigorous coursework, and make informed decisions.
Career Readiness: Maximize each student's ability to understand the connection between school and work. Support planning for and making a successful transition from school to postsecondary education, career, and from job to job across their lifespan.
NTPS counselors provide short-term small group or individual support for students expressing difficulties dealing with relationships, personal concerns, or daily tasks. When necessary, referrals are made to appropriate community resources.
School counselors are part of the team that develops needed Section 504 plans for students who need extra support in the classroom.
In Washington state, a master's degree in counseling and a 400-hour internship with a certified counselor is required to become Educational Staff Associate (ESA) Certified.
If you'd like to look at the district's Comprehensive School Counseling Program (CSCP) Plan, please contact the NTPS Student Support office.
At NTPS, social-emotional learning (SEL) programs help develop emotional skills in our students, fostering a safe and positive learning environment for everyone.
Our SEL curriculum teaches students to:
Control impulses
Communicate clearly and assertively
Maintain cooperative relationships
Make responsible decisions
Solve problems effectively
Recognize emotions in oneself and others
Manage strong emotions
Have empathy for others
Elementary SEL
Second Step SEL curriculum is offered in grades Preschool through 5th. Every elementary classroom has 20 minutes of SEL time built into its daily schedule. This time consists of Second Step lessons and group activities that foster community and build strong relationships.
Second Step aligns with Washington state's SEL competencies and has been successfully implemented in over 26,000 schools worldwide. It has been endorsed by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) and the Department of Education.
Grades 6–12 utilize the Character Strong curriculum, complemented by the Second Step curriculum for bullying prevention. The lessons engage students in discussion and reflection on practical actions. These lessons are included as part of students' advisory time that includes High School and Beyond plans and other important work.
NTPS utilizes the Devereux Student Strengths Assessment (DESSA), which is administered to all NTPS students, to measure emotional competence. The DESSA provides information about eight key social and emotional areas: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, goal-directed behavior, personal responsibility, decision-making, and optimistic thinking. Results guide school-wide, class-wide, small-group-wide, and individual strategies for growth.
NTPS offers a student-centered academic program, run by Treehouse, called Graduation Success, which helps NTPS students in foster care prepare for their future. Treehouse education specialists work one-on-one with NTPS high school students to help them graduate.
Brenda McAferty NTPS Foster Care Liaison bmcaferty@ntps.org
360-412-4902
The NTPS Military Support Team provides outreach and advocacy between Joint Base Lewis-McChord, our schools, and our military families.
Our district has Military and Family Life Counselors (MFLCs) who provide services to our active-duty and newly retired military families at several of our schools. MFLCs can provide monthly Deployment/PCS groups, one-on-ones, and more to help support our military families.
NTPS utilizes specialists from Educational Service District 113 (ESD 113) who provide prevention, intervention, and referral services to students and their families who are impacted by alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use/abuse.
