OBSERVER Photo by Amanda Dedie Heather Nocero, Pupil Personnel Services representative, discusses ways Cassadaga Valley is implementing Community Schools funding.

CASSADAGA VALLEY — Another school is joining the community schools bandwagon, with Cassadaga Valley jumping on board with Brocton and others to try to improve the lived of underprivileged students and their families.

Community schools funding was established in the 2016-17 New York State budget, and guidance form the state reads that schools “shall use the amount set aside to support the transformation of school buildings into community hubs to deliver co-located or school-linked academic, health, mental health, nutrition, counseling, legal and/or other services to students and their families.”

New York State School Board Association also stated that Community Schools funding will also “help students overcome the adverse effects of poverty and other obstacles to success, provide additional support to disadvantaged students and families in order to bring them on par with their peers and level the playing field by providing students access to the kinds of academic enhancement and support systems that their counterparts in wealthier schools might have.”

Some examples of allowable services through Community Schools funding are tutoring; mentoring; mental, physical and dental health; early childhood education; parental support, self-esteem, after school and health and wellness programs; yoga and fitness activities; nutrition information; and field trips.

A new committee, called the Pupil Personnel Committee, has also formed, comprising of district administration, school principals, the school psychologist, the school counselors the school social worker, teacher members and the school nurse.

“We’ve been meeting monthly and we’ve been focusing on increasing communication with parents in the community, trying to think up new programs we can bring to the students and community of Cassadaga Valley,” said Pupil Personnel Services representative Heather Nocero. “[We’re] increasing our character communication and anti-bullying efforts. Providing higher quality staff developments and increasing our health and wellness education.”

The district is also partnering with Chautauqua Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Council to provide education in the elementary, middle and high schools about substance abuse prevention, implementing classroom instruction from a CASAC provider, and give additional support for students and families about individual intervention.

Additionally, the program is implementing positive reinforcement tools, like T-shirts and good behavior postcards that can be sent home. There are also a number of community outreach programs, such as a Kids Escaping Drugs parents night; a junior/senior women’s seminar, where junior and senior women and their mothers can attend and learn about college transition; enhanced programming for parents of grades 6, 8 and 11; a financial aid night; parenting classes; community yoga; community CrossFit; increased Wellness Day funding, and K-12 Assembly Parent/Community Nights.

Other enrichment and development attempts include an SAT course taught in-house at Cassadaga Valley, a Staff Development Day run by Ruby Payne and possibly Rick LeVoie; and a continuation of mental health avenues, adult education and health and wellness initiatives.

“This is great,” said board president Jeanne Oag, when presented to at the December board meeting. “(Us) getting into the community, getting more involved and getting the parents to feel more connected with the district so that we were better able to identify needs or to even avoid problems before they became issues within the school itself.”

Superintendent Chuck Leichner agreed.

“There is always a need, and maybe it comes to the principal’s desk, or it comes to the counselor’s desk, but in the past we haven’t had all those players get together and look at it from different perspectives, and in a really positive way we’ve been able to say, ‘here are some needs,’ and then your group has attacked those things and produced results, so that’s what’s great about it,” said Leichner. “This has really been a lot of work, but it’s produced, and you can already see the great things they’ve got lined up. So we’re thrilled.”