South Jordan Elementary Prevention Plan 2024-25
Our school’s mission:
South Jordan Elementary School promotes high levels of academic growth and achievement, supports the development of positive relationships, prepares civic minded students to be active in their communities, and enriches students’ lives through a safe and inclusive learning environment.
Prevention Plan Overview
We are a PBIS school that promotes positive behaviors through our R.A.M.S., which encourages our students to be Respectful, Accountable, Motivated, and Safe.
Our school prioritizes prevention by offering support and services to our students and their families. Some of our everyday efforts, the systems and strategies for supporting our students are listed below:
- Our school uses Panorama data management to identify students in need of additional support, especially those struggling to attend school.
- Our school provides access to District mental health and support resources through Student Services which includes the Jordan Family Education Center and Mental Health Access Program.
- Our school provides access to academic support with District departments to support the success of every student.
- Our school’s mental health providers (school counselor and school psychologist,) are trained and supported by District administration to follow current best practices in prevention and intervention efforts.
- Our school intervenes with early warning, content monitoring, and anonymous reporting tools with support from District specialists to identify and support students who may be at risk.
- Our school provides access to parent and family resources including a District partnership with the Cook Center for Human Connection, evening parent seminars, and classes through the Jordan Family Education Center.
Suicide Prevention Plan
- Our school’s mental health providers and administrators are trained on and review District suicide risk intervention guidelines annually with support from Jordan District’s Student Services Team.
- All staff are given guidelines on how to respond and what steps to take if a student or other staff member expresses thoughts or signs of suicide.
- All of our school’s licensed staff participate in suicide prevention training for their license renewal
- Students identified who may be at risk of suicide receive interventions and support appropriate to their
individual needs which may include a screening interview (CSSR-S), parent/guardian contact, a safety
plan, mental health recommendations/referrals (JFEC, MHAP, etc.), a re-entry meeting, and regular follow-up.
- Our school psychologist and school counselor are available to work with at-risk students one on one or in a small group setting to develop coping skills.
Bullying, Harassment, and Discrimination Prevention Plan
- Our school team proactively reviews relevant Panorama data on school climate, safety, and bullying by identifying vulnerable populations (e.g., racial and ethnic groups, genders, students with disabilities) and specific spaces where bullying may be likely to plan supports accordingly.
- Our school’s staff is trained on school procedures for recognizing, reporting (SafeUT, content monitoring, etc.), and responding to bullying incidents. When bullying is reported or recognized, staff responds by immediately addressing the behavior, helping to restore any broken relationships, and contacting parents/guardians to make them aware of the situation.
- Educate students on what constitutes bullying, harassment, and discrimination and how to respond when they are the victim or witness of a bullying, harassment, or discrimination incident.
- Our school administration documents incidents in Skyward according to State requirements.
- Students involved in incidents of bullying as targets, aggressors, or witnesses receive support for their individual needs which may include suicide risk assessments, counseling and mental health services (i.e. school mental health team, JFEC, MHAP), Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA), Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP), a student wellness plan and/or parent/guardian contact—recognizing that targets, aggressors, and witnesses of bullying are more susceptible to school problems.
- South Jordan promotes the PBIS model and uses the acronym R.A.M.S. which stands for Respectful, Accountable, Motivated, and Safe. We use every opportunity to develop these characteristics as well as recognize other similar characteristics such as kindness, conflict resolution, and inclusiveness.
- Our school psychologist and school counselor teaches small group classes covering topics such as social skills, friendship, bullying/empathy, and anger management. These groups are built based on the needs of our student population, and resources and classes are available to students and parents at the district level.
Violence Prevention Plan
- Our school’s administrators are trained on the Comprehensive School Threat Assessment Guidelines (C-STAG). We work along with the other members of our school’s threat assessment team which includes our school psychologist and school counselor.
- Our school has a process for timely response to school threats using Comprehensive School Threat Assessment Guidelines (C-STAG) and its decision tree. This includes warning potential victims and their parents/guardians.
- Our school’s staff and students are aware of school procedures for recognizing and reporting (SafeUT, content monitoring etc.) threats of violence. We do a training about SafeUT at the start of the year.
- Students who are affected by or who make threats of violence receive interventions and support appropriate to their individual needs which may include problem solving, C-STAG interviews, suicide risk assessments, Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA), Restorative Conferencing, Mediation, a Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP), counseling and mental health services (i.e. school mental health team, JFEC, MHAP) a student wellness plan and/or parent contact.
- The school counselor regularly teaches mini lessons to our classes including topics such as empathy,
bullying prevention, friend making, and kindness to others.
Additional Strategies
Each year we work with our school PTA to conduct Red Ribbon week. Red Ribbon week covers substance-abuse awareness including tobacco, alcohol and drugs, and teaches kids why they should “just say no”.
This prevention plan has been created following Jordan District guidelines, which can be reviewed at wellness.jordandistrict.org.
In addition, with the collaboration of the PTA and the SCC, we conduct at White Ribbon week. We focus on digital citizenship and being safe online.
We also encourage extracurricular activities such as our yearly school musical, band, orchestra, and choir.
Future Plans & Ideas
While we already have our counselor visiting and teaching in classrooms, we would like to implement a more specific Social Emotional Learning program. SEL (Social Emotional Learning) is an integral part of human development. SEL is the process that helps people develop healthy identities, manage emotions, feel empathy for others, maintain supportive relationships with friends or family members as well as make responsible decisions. We are currently exploring options that would work well for teachers, students, and our community. After doing some research, we are looking to implement In Focus.
Research and implement a peer support program such as Junior Hope Squad or a system of recess mentors. While we already discuss anti-bullying behaviors in the school, we’d like to find a system in which we use the
same language and same responses to bullying behaviors.