Support Student Success

Contact Miller Creek School Counselors:

Contact Cheryl Jacobs		7th Grade & 6th Grade A-L Counselor
Contact Ashley Marty		8th Grade & 6th Grade M-Z Counselor

These are intervention suggestions for parents to try at home and options available Miller Creek. There are two tiers or levels of interventions that may be utilized to help students succeed.

Here are TIER ONE interventions to try with your child to help bolster success:

IT IS IMPORTANT TO TRY DIFFERENT INTERVENTIONS BOTH AT HOME AND AT SCHOOL TO ASSIST YOUR CHILD. NOT ALL STUDENTS RESPOND TO EVERY INTERVENTION. BE CREATIVE AND REMEMBER THAT YOUR CHILD IS IN A DEVELOPMENTALLY CHALLENGING TIME IN HIS/HER LIFE!

AT HOME

• Homework Support. There are many individual differences in organizational skills among students. Students will benefit from the security of having time, space and materials set aside for doing their homework. Many students work best when a parent is working in the same room. Encouraging students to discuss what they are learning and working on is generally much more successful than nagging.

• Structure. Children thrive when their home environment allows for positive interaction, attention and security. Sleep, exercise and balanced meals contribute to successful learning.

• Set Limits. A child who is doing poorly in school is often a discouraged child who feels out of control. Have and enforce high standards for behavior, be clear in your expectations, help your child respect self and others and send him/her to school with the conviction that rules are to be followed and learning is important.

• Encouragement. Parents are the primary coaches for children. Having faith in their ability to learn and succeed, reassuring them that hard work and effort are more important than grades, keeping them motivated and helping them ask for help will help them be successful learners.

• Tutoring. There are times when extra support might be necessary. For a small fee, a high school-age neighbor can provide tutoring and, in the process, provide information about what lies ahead. An adult tutor can also help students feel more responsible for their own learning.

AT SCHOOL

• Phone Calls/ Emails. When you have a concern about your child's learning in a class, call the school and leave a message for the teacher and/or email the teacher. Teachers will call/email you back in a timely manner.

• Teacher Extra-Help. Students are encouraged to speak with teachers directly to clarify any problems and to ask for help.

• Signed Planner. The student writes the homework (or "no homework") in the planner and takes it to the teacher to be initialed. This ensures that parents know the expectations.

• School related information, including daily homework found on SchoolLoop.

• Classroom Accommodations. With parent and teacher agreement, accommodations are put into place when necessary. Accommodations may include a teacher giving extra time for an assignment following a student’s illness. Decisions are based on individual student need. If work or grading is modified, this is noted on report cards.

• Conference Days. Each year Miller Creek has a week dedicated for parent-teacher conferences. On the designated day, parents sign up at the school for ten-minute conferences with individual teachers. This is an excellent time to meet your child’s teachers in person to discuss any concerns you might have regarding his/her success.

Have you tried all of these interventions for an extended time and your child is still not succeeding? You might need to try a Tier Two intervention.

TIER TWO Interventions:

The following intervention(s) can be utilized after Tier One interventions have been implemented and given time to gage effectiveness.

• Counseling. If there are personal or family issues interfering with success in school, a productive relationship with a supportive, trained adult counselor can be helpful. Outside providers from such agencies as New Perspectives and the Community Institute of Psychotherapy provide limited, short-term individual or group support. The school counselor provides crisis support and check-ins with students according to need.

• Student Success Team Meeting (SST). When a child experiences difficulty in several classes and multiple interventions have been tried unsuccessfully, a Student Success Team meeting brings together school personnel and parents to discuss the student’s strengths, and challenges. The team brainstorms a concrete action plan to aid in success.