Making a Reset Room with Dr. Wendy Watson Resilient Schools 11

Dr. Wendy Watson is the Principal of Garry Middle School in Spokane, WA. Garry is a Title I school, and they took a unique approach In recent years, Dr. Wendy Watson and her team at the school have made a concerted effort to improve support for students’ academic and behavioral needs. This has involved increasing the number of behavior interventionists from one to four, and adding additional support systems to help students de-escalate and regulate their emotions. One of the key challenges faced by Dr. Watson and her team was ensuring that these support systems worked well together. To address this, they brought a group of adults together to brainstorm and problem-solve. This team-oriented approach has been crucial in helping them create a highly trusting and supportive environment for their students. The results of these efforts have been impressive. Since implementing these changes, they have seen a 59% drop in overall suspensions, and a marked improvement in students’ ability to regulate their emotions and behavior. Of course, making these changes has not been without its challenges. Communication breakdowns are inevitable when implementing significant changes, and it can be difficult to stay focused and on track when dealing with the pressures of data and administration. However, Dr. Watson and her team have found that taking a restorative approach, and being forgiving of miscommunications, has been key to their success. One key factor in their ability to make these changes has been hope. As the interviews with Melissa Sadin and Cathleen Beachboard on the Resilient Schools website highlight, hope is a powerful motivator and can be a key factor in making schools more resilient. Overall, Dr. Watson’s experience has taught her that making positive changes in schools can be challenging, but the rewards are worth it. By working together, and focusing on the needs of their students, they have been able to create a supportive and resilient learning environment. -   Resources wrapped up in academics Needed a lot of behavior support as well. Moved from 1 building interventionist to 4 behavior interventionist. Adding additional support systems. You start naturally problem-solving. Here’s the problem, how do we get together, and how do we make it work? We got a group of adults together to help kids de-escalate kids. Need to work through what everyone’s needs are in then put everyone together. Wonderful people who have the toughest jobs of dealing with emotional People are naturally learning from one another learn how to work with kids and help them regulate. Being part of a team, no sense of people being in their own separate offices. Built-in support for when adults are overwhelmed. Highly trusting place for students to come when they are dis-regulated. 22 staff members with admin got together to define what MTSS means for our school. When Wendy arrived suspension numbers were higher than every high school. 59% drop in overall suspensions. When there is pressure on the admin to get suspensions decreased, it can be very challenging. You can’t solve problems when you’re dealing with data that isn’t real. When interventionists want to get out, it’s a red flag. The challenge of communication when you’re making change. Change is challenging, but worth it. General breakdown of communication can and probably will happen. Be forgiving when miscommunication happens. Restorative practices take time. Clarification of roles of people within the community support room. What the process looks like now: quick collection of data, interventionist comes to get the student, recommendations for support, goes to reset room, may eventually connect with admin. Base curriculum - in-the-moment lessons on the subjects they specifically need right now. 1 thing to make schools more resilient: hope - it’s so important. Big Beautiful Future. For more about hope, see these interviews with Melissa Sadin and Cathleen Beachboard about hope.