Photos courtesy of New Albany-Plain Local Schools
There’s no doubt about it: Everyone struggles with fitting in during his or her formative years, and the environment at school has a lot to do with it. From cliques and peer pressure to body image and cyberbullying, it seems like children are always facing new challenges.
Luckily, these issues have been receiving more public attention. With increased awareness comes an increased sense of responsibility from the school administration’s end, as is evident in New Albany-Plain Local Schools’ efforts to help students take care of themselves while looking out for one another.
As any New Albany resident knows, the school district is a little different from most others. Its main facilities are all connected on a college-style campus that sits on 80 acres, accommodating its nearly 5,000 students.
While the setup keeps students across all grades connected, in a sense, the staff and faculty are well aware that they need to address the unique challenges that come with different age groups. Kindergarten and first grade have their own building, as do grades two through five, six through eight and nine through 12.
“Finding their place is the biggest thing (for elementary-aged students),” says LeNora Angles, dean of students for grades two through five. “You have issues with cliques when someone isn’t allowed to play in this group or that group.”
Social media, she says, has been the most challenging aspect. It used to be that when children went home, they were safe from any troubles they were facing at school. Now, those troubles can follow them via their smart phones.
“Social media just magnifies all the issues they deal with,” Angles says.
The steps the district has taken to combat these issues are numerous. On the playground, there’s a “buddy bench.” If a student doesn’t have anyone to talk to or play with during recess, he or she can sit on the bench to indicate he or she needs some company.
“If someone sees them sitting on the bench, they can say, ‘Hey, do you want to play with us?’ Everyone will have someone,” Angles says.
Selena McKnight, fourth and fifth grade counselor, targets issues specific to fifth grade girls through a program called Girls Rox. Girls Rox was initiated after a similar summer camp program caught the attention of parents who wanted it to be integrated into the school year.
“We build confident girls by giving them a safe place to talk about things that are going on in their lives,” McKnight says. “(We talk about) the difference between aggressive communication and assertive communication; we teach girls to find their voice and speak up about their needs in relationships.”
Girls Rox also helps students learn the difference between healthy and unhealthy relationships, making wise choices on social media accounts, and mental and physical self-defense. During the summer camp, the girls’ mothers participated in the self-defense segment. McKnight hopes the lessons learned during Girls Rox will stay with the girls as they transition to middle and high school, as well as later on in life.
To address the sheer size of the student body, Angles says staff are working on changing the structure of the school by implementing smaller learning communities. These alterations are expected to be solidified during the 2015-16 school year.
“With the size of the school, it does get challenging,” Angles says. “Kids make connections with their teachers, but next year, they might be in a different area of a building.”
The idea is to keep students in similar groupings so, year by year, they’re not completely disconnected. Angles says the learning communities will be similar to a neighborhood school, or a “school within a school.”
McKnight says she expects the transition will help students as they move up grade levels. This January, she gave fourth and fifth grade students a survey about stress. A lot of the students reported feeling extremely stressed in a number of areas, such as their home life and extracurricular activities. Many also said they felt overly involved in activities.
“They’re 10 and 11 and talking about anxiety. They know what that is. So we’re building this support system, and you can go to your second grade teacher, who you’ve connected with, when you’re having trouble,” McKnight says.
Angles says she thinks the new setup will be beneficial for both students and staff.
“It’s really going to help our students identify with a certain group of kids and teachers,” she says.
New Albany Middle School
New Albany Middle School recognizes positive behavior through programs such as Fun Fridays, where a student is rewarded for something he or she did well, and Eagle Grams, in which a postcard is sent to a standout student’s home. There are also several organizations in the middle school that work to cultivate a positive culture:
- Girls Circle Group works to promote a healthy body image and foster positive peer relationships.
- Boys Group promotes behaviors and relationships with peers.
- Student Ambassador Program matches current students with new students, helping the new students learn their way around the middle school.
- New Student Lunch is a special lunch held at the beginning of the year for students new to the area.
- The adventure club and the ski club are open to the entire school and provide a way for students to socialize in a safe and fun environment.
New Albany High School
Throughout the school year, the staff and students work on improving the school culture through various team building activities. Some students have even taken an extra step to coordinate new initiatives, such as the New Student Network, which welcomes students new to the area and helps them connect with peers.
The school’s Peace Week will run May 18-22, with the goal of enforcing positive messages and engaging students in activities that will improve the school culture and their self-esteem and celebrate diversity and acceptance. Clubs such as the Gay/Straight Alliance also help students discuss diversity and sexuality at the high school level.
Hannah Bealer is an assistant editor. Feedback welcome at ssole@cityscenemediagroup.com.
