St. Helena Unified School District

 

 

The entire St. Helena Unified School District (SHUSD) community endeavors to create safe, healthy and nurturing learning environments for every student. SHUSD staff understands that schools and communities that are physically and emotionally safe for all students promote and support academic achievement, citizenship, school attendance and engagement. The district also maintains a commitment to safety and therefore, it is a violation of district policy for a student to bully, harass, or intimidate another student and exhibit behaviors that infringe upon the safety or emotional well-being of any student; including acts of bullying, intimidation or harassment through words and actions.

SHUSD staff promote student learning in the areas of social-emotional development by providing students with safe and age appropriate opportunities to resolve conflicts, develop strong decision making skills and enhance empathy.  The District strives to ensure that every student experiences a safe and welcoming school environment, free from bullying. When students do experience or witness bullying, schools may offer a variety of supports, such as counseling, check-ins, social skills groups, and other programs or services. This is to ensure that students feel safe at school and understand what to do whenever confronted with bullying. Interventions may be offered to the target, aggressor, or bystander. Please contact your site for specific school supports and programs available. To accomplish this, under the umbrella of Positive Behavior Interventions and Support (PBIS), the District employs the pyramid of supports depicted below.

 

School personnel who witness any act of discrimination, harassment, intimidation, or bullying shall take immediate action to intervene (Education Code section 234.1(b)(1)). Every member of the school community is responsible for promoting a positive school culture and ensuring the physical and emotional health of students.  Further, there is an expectation that all students, staff, parents, and volunteers demonstrate behavior that is respectful and civil in order to model and support safe school communities.