CSS Toolkit: Attendance
Steve Garcia, Assistant Principal/CSS Field Colleague, South El Monte High School; Jennifer Carpenter, CSS Outreach Consultant/Field Colleague, Glenelder Elementary School, CA

Discover specific, successful programs that can reduce tardiness and increase ADA at your school. Attendance strategies are a key element for successful learning outcomes at any school. This session will provide you with concrete, proven strategies that address a variety of family issues, and can enlist community agencies, parents, teachers, and children to be part of attendance success.

Strand: CSS Toolkit
Grade Level: K–12

Shining Star School–Student Behavior & Attendance
Miriam Fox, Principal; Michelle Randall, CSS Outreach Consultant, Northview Intermediate; Shannon Corbett, Principal; Rocio Ortiz, CSS Outreach Consultant, Garvanza Elementary School

Shining Star schools are Comprehensive Student Support schools that scored well in this year's annual peer review and showed significant gains in academic improvement by meeting their API and AYP targets. Shining Star Schools are Comprehensive Student Support schools that scored well in this year's annual peer review and showed significant gains in academic improvement by meeting their API and AYP targets.

These Shining Star Schools present how they used the CSS strategies to improve student behavior and improve student attendance.

Strand: Best Practices
Grade Level: K–8

Shining Star School–Resilience
Genaro Carapia, Principal; Jill Chandler, CSS Outreach Consultant, Sheridan St. Elementary School; Louise McKray, Bridge Street Elementary

Shining Star Schools are Comprehensive Student Support schools that scored well in this year's annual peer review and showed significant gains in academic improvement by meeting their API and AYP targets.

These Shining Star Schools present how resilience-creating programs and strategies support the whole child and often have a significant role in student' academic success.

Strand: Best Practices
Grade Level: K–6

Truth or Consequences: Keeping It Real for the At-risk Youth
Scott Charles, Trauma Outreach Coordinator, Temple University Hospital, PA

In many American classrooms, “teaching to the test” has taken priority over the teaching of life's lessons. Few have suffered the consequences of this shift more than the at-risk student. Because there is so little in their lives that can be adequately captured with a #2 pencil and a bubble form, the classroom offers fewer opportunities to use the tools with which they have been equipped as a function of their experiences. This session will suggest opportunities to empower at-risk students–and showcase their gifts–by having them address the real-world/real-life problems that exist in their communities.

Strand: NEW!, Engaging At-Risk Students; VetORC
Grade Level: K–12

Welcoming Diversity in Our Schools: Acknowledging and Supporting Students of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Parents
Lisa White, Amanda Litwin, Family Services Program–Family Advocate, L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center, CA

This interactive workshop will address the unique issues facing students with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and/or transgender (LGBT) parents, outline specific strategies and best practices for creating safe and welcoming classrooms and schools for all students, and provide space for educators and parents to explore their own fears, challenges, and concerns about incorporating LGBT families into existing diversity curriculum.

Strand: Engaging At-Risk Students; VetORC
Grade Level: K–12

English Language Learners: Instructional Strategies that Work
Laura Guzman, Coordinator; Terry Baron, LRET Division, English Learner & Support Services, CA

This session will address the specific needs of English Language Learners and provide practical strategies you can use in class. Participants will be provided with instructional sequence and strategies for actively engaging students, accelerating learning through scaffolding of instruction, and explicitly teaching academic language. Practical application, tips, and strategies you can use will be included in the handouts provided.

Strand: Instructional Strategies
Grade Level: K–8

Cyberbullying and Internet Safety
Steve Wolf, Field Training Officer, Irvine Police Department, CA

Learn how to protect your students on the web in this interactive internet safety workshop. Participants will gain practical strategies to implement safety standards at school regarding MySpace, chat rooms, instant messaging, interactive chat, California Education Codes, and more. Steve Wolf will discuss online dangers and what teachers, parents, students, and school communities can do to protect children.

Strand: Safety and Violence Prevention
Grade Level: K–12

Positive Student Behavior Strategies from Individual to School-wide
Gini Dold, Principal/CSS Field Colleague; Brigitte Knight, CSS Outreach Consultant; Lori Swihart, Social Worker, E.R. Taylor Elementary, CA

This workshop will provide effective strategies to help schools implement school-wide behavior expectations on macro and micro levels. From supporting students with their individual behavior needs to creating systems to address challenging behaviors, this workshop will provide a diversity of tools and ideas for teachers, outreach consultants, and administrators.

Strand: Safety and Violence Prevention; VetORC
Grade Levels: K–5

Efficiently Practicing for Multiple School Threats
Jess Martinez, Program Coord., Readiness & Emergency Management for Schools, San Diego COE, Pupil Services, Safe Schools, CA

Unfortunately, schools are experiencing threats of violence that affect the learning environment. During this session participants will learn how to efficiently practice for lockdown, earthquake, and fire in one setting without encroaching excessively on instructional time. Attendees will receive a script to guide them through the “Three in One” drill. The drill script also includes an English/Spanish post-drill message to parents on reunification procedures in case of an incident.

Strand: Best Practices; CASCWA

Boosting Adolescents' Social Skills, Emotional Management & Academic Motivation
Julea Douglass, Ph.D., Co-Author & Associate Director, School-Connect, MD

Ninth grade is a critical transition year; many students struggle with the personal and academic challenges of high school. This session will focus on strategies for (1) creating a supportive learning community, (2) helping students overcome self-defeating attitudes about schoolwork, and (3) promoting student-driven learning. These strategies can be used in freshman seminars, advisory programs, and school-wide. Special attention will be paid to models that support the needs of incoming freshmen..

Strand: NEW!, Engaging At-Risk Students; Foster Youth
Grade Level: K–12

The Joel Bridgman Mentor Program
Gayle Green, Author/Resource Specialist; Julie Marion, Special Educator/Resource Specialist; Amy Kraft, Title I Reading Teacher/Asst. to Principal, Oakdale Elementary School, CA

This workshop includes a multimedia presentation that highlights how to set up a successful mentor program at your school. This mentoring program is highly successful in the K–6 setting but may be adapted to fit any school setting. Mentoring strategies will be discussed as well as the nuts and bolts of setting up your own mentor program using your school staff. Mentoring is a powerful and effective way of creating meaningful relationships with students at your school site.

Strand: Engaging At-Risk Students; Foster Youth
Grade Level: K–6

Connecting Homeless Students and Families with School
Sarita Fuentes, Hope Region Principal/Monarch School Project CEO, SDCOE Juvenile Court & Community School District; Loretta Middleton, Senior Director, SDCOE Student Support Services, CA

This session will address the special needs of homeless youth and families and how best to keep these families connected to school. Learn key strategies for supporting homeless youth in staying in school and find out how to tap into the unique resiliency of each family. This session will address the McKinney-Vento law as it pertains to the services schools must provide and the rights it affords to parents & students in homeless situations. Sarita and Loretta have spent years working with homeless families and will provide essential information for you to be aware of as you work with this growing group of students. They will share practical tools and answer your questions so that you can create a better bridge between school and the rest of life for these families.

Strand: Engaging At-Risk Students; Foster Youth & Juvenile Detention; VetORC
Grade Level: K–12

Girls United to Succeed (GUTS): A Gang Intervention Program
Barbara Rivas, Coord. Violence Prevention/Intervention Unit, Founder, GUTS Program; Cathey Casanova, GUTS Program Lead Facilitator; Reina Morgan, GUTS Program Facilitator; Erika Gonzalez, GUTS Program Facilitator Intern, Student Support Services Dept., San Diego COE, CA

This workshop will describe a gender-specific intervention model for working with highly aggressive and/or gang-affiliated girls and/or parenting teens with high risk factors. Program is geared for schools, agencies, and institutions serving school-aged girls. Data for GUTS pilot program at a middle school in the San Diego area will be shared. Q and A period allowed as part of the session.

Strand: NEW!, Safety and Violence Prevention, CASCWA; Foster Youth & Juvenile Detention; VetORC
Grade Level: 7–12