2023 - PSI

Nurturing Your Child’s Mental Health During the Holiday Season: 5 Essential Tips for Parents

December 29, 2023/0 Comments/by Greg Dzuris

The holiday season is often portrayed as a time of joy and celebration, but it can also bring added stress and challenges, especially for children. As a parent, it’s important to prioritize and support your child’s mental well-being during this time. Here are five valuable tips to help you navigate the holiday season while promoting a healthy and positive environment for your child.

Maintain Consistent Routines:

The holiday season can disrupt regular routines, which are fundamental for your child’s mental health and stability. While it’s understandable to embrace the festive spirit, try to maintain consistent mealtimes, bedtimes, and daily activities as much as possible. Consistency provides a sense of security and routine that can help your child feel grounded and manage stress more effectively.

Encourage Open Communication:

Effective communication plays a crucial role in understanding and addressing your child’s emotional needs. Throughout the holiday season, make it a point to create safe spaces for open discussions. Encourage your child to express their feelings, worries, and concerns, and actively listen to what they have to say without judgment. Validate their emotions and assure them that it’s okay to feel overwhelmed or anxious during this time. By fostering a culture of open communication, you can offer vital support and develop a stronger parent-child bond.

Manage Expectations:

The holiday season often comes with high expectations, which can lead to disappointment and added stress. Help your child manage their own expectations by setting realistic goals and discussing potential outcomes. Teach them that the joy of the holidays lies in spending quality time with loved ones, rather than materialistic pursuits. Remind them that it’s okay if things don’t go exactly as planned and that the most important thing is creating cherished memories together.

Practice Self-Care Together:

Amidst the holiday chaos, it’s essential to prioritize self-care for both you and your child. Engage in activities that promote relaxation and overall well-being. This can include taking walks, practicing mindfulness exercises, enjoying creative hobbies, or simply spending quiet moments together. By modeling self-care behaviors, you teach your child the importance of looking after their mental health, helping them develop resilience and coping strategies for the holiday season and beyond.

Provide a Safe Space:

The holiday season can be overwhelming for some children, particularly those struggling with mental health challenges. Ensure that your child knows they have a safe space to retreat to when they feel overwhelmed or need a break. Create a cozy corner in the house where they can unwind, read, listen to music, or engage in calming activities. This designated safe space lets them know you understand and respect their need for solitude and helps them recharge their emotional batteries.

Conclusion:

As a parent, prioritizing your child’s mental health during the holiday season is paramount. By maintaining routines, encouraging open communication, managing expectations, practicing self-care together, and providing a safe space, you can help your child navigate the festive period with greater ease and cultivate a positive mindset. Remember, small gestures of support and understanding can make a world of difference in nurturing your child’s well-being, both during the holidays and throughout the year.

Looking for more ways to navigate the holiday season? Here are some other links for further reading:

5 Holiday Job Search Tips for Education Professionals

December 14, 2023/0 Comments/in News /by Greg Dzuris

Here are five tips that job seekers can consider implementing over the holidays when looking for a job in the field of education:

1. Update Your Resume and Cover Letter: Use the holiday break to review and update your resume and cover letter. Highlight your relevant skills, experiences, and accomplishments. Tailor your documents to the specific job you are applying for in the education sector, emphasizing your passion for teaching and commitment to student success.

2. Research Job Opportunities: Spend time researching and identifying potential job opportunities in the education field during the holidays. Explore job search websites, school district websites, and education-related professional organizations. Take note of application deadlines and gather information about the desired qualifications and application procedures for each position.

3. Strengthen Your Network: Connect with colleagues, friends, and professionals in the education industry during holiday gatherings or virtual holiday events. Inform them that you are actively seeking employment in education, and ask if they have any leads or contacts that could help in your job search. Networking is a valuable tool for finding job opportunities in any field.

4. Enhance Your Skills: Use the holiday season to enhance your skills and knowledge in the education field. Consider taking online courses, attending virtual workshops or webinars, or obtaining certifications that are relevant to the job you are seeking. This will not only add value to your resume but also demonstrate your commitment to professional growth.

5. Prepare for Interviews: Take advantage of the holiday break to brush up on common interview questions and practice your responses. Research the specific school or educational institution you are applying to and familiarize yourself with their mission, values, and educational approach. Practice your interviewing skills with friends, family members, or through mock interviews online to boost your confidence and interview performance.

Remember that persistence and patience are key when searching for a job in education. The holiday season may present slightly fewer opportunities, as schools may have limited hiring processes during this time. However, by utilizing these tips, you can start laying the groundwork and positioning yourself for success once the job market picks up again in the new year.

Interested in career opportunities with PSI? Click here for more information or contact Jacob Farrar at jacobfarrar@psi-solutions.org.

Exciting News at PSI

December 5, 2023/0 Comments/in News /by Liz Campbell

We are delighted to announce that PSI has become a part of Education Solutions Services (ESS), a leading and highly respected firm in the education industry. This strategic partnership marks a significant milestone in our company’s journey and opens up new opportunities for improvements to our recruiting process, continued innovation, and enhanced collaboration.

Steve Rosenberg is very pleased to be continuing with the PSI Team, which will be conducting business as usual. All the trusted PSI administrators, supervisors and school staff at PSI will continue to do what they do best: providing service to students, consulting with our school partners and managing and further developing PSI‘s many programs. Meredith Sitko, as President of PSI, will continue leading PSI, as we grow and expand to better serve Ohio’s schools.

By joining forces with ESS, we will be able to provide an even higher level of support to all the schools. This will help our recruiting initiatives and all our many other programs you have been accustomed to receiving. PSI Espanol is but one example of our expanding programming now available to the schools we serve.

We want to express our heartfelt gratitude to you and all our clients, employees, and partners. We appreciate your trust and confidence and look forward to continuing our relationship as PSI, an ESS Company.

We know this partnership will help us better serve all the schools. Thank you again for the opportunity to support you and your school community.

Scholarship Winner – Rose Rife

November 29, 2023/0 Comments/in News /by Liz Campbell

We are delighted to announce that Rose Rife has been selected as the winner of the annual 2023 School Psychology $1,000 Scholarship Award by PSI. Rose is completing her internship and is in her 3^rd year in the School Psychology program at Cleveland State University. She has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to enhancing the lives of students, particularly those on the Autism spectrum. When asked about why she chose to study School Psychology Rose indicated that she was drawn to supporting students’ mental health and academic success through evidence-based interventions. Rose is planning on graduating in May of 2024. Her paper was entitled “The Importance of Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports Training for Caregivers.”

PSI’s annual Scholarship Award is designed to recognize outstanding contributions from graduate students, interns, and past graduates. This $1,000.00 award serves as both a tribute to their accomplishments and an encouragement for continued excellence. By offering this Ohio-wide PSI Scholarship Request for Proposals (RFP), we aim to reward and reinforce the invaluable contributions made by psychology graduates who have worked tirelessly with children facing behavioral health challenges.

The significance of this scholarship program is underscored by the exceptional contributions of our past graduates who have become integral members of the PSI family. Their dedication to the mental health and well-being of the students we serve has been truly commendable, and we take pride in their continued success.

As for future scholarships, PSI is committed to supporting future generations of students in both school psychology and clinical psychology programs in Ohio and will continue to offer the scholarship each year. There are also plans to expand the disciplines beyond psychology. The dates for the 2024 scholarship have not been determined.

Once again, congratulations to Rose Rife on this well-deserved recognition. We are confident that her commitment to the field of school psychology will make a positive impact on the lives of many students.

PSI Scholarship Winner-Rose Rife with Steve Rosenberg and CSU School Psychology Professor Patrick Frato

PSI is excited to announce that Steve Rosenberg, Ph.D., will be recognized at the 2023 Smart 50 Awards

November 28, 2023/0 Comments/in News /by Michelle Dolciato

PSI is excited to announce that Steve Rosenberg, Ph.D., will be recognized at the 2023 Smart 50 Awards, hosted by @Smart Business Network and presented by @Corporate College. The Smart 50 Awards recognized the top executives of the 50 smartest companies in Northeast Ohio for their ability to effectively build and lead successful organizations!

PSI would like to thank Corporate College and the Smart 50 Awards bestowing this honorable recognition upon us. We also extend our warm congratulations to all the other award recipients for everything they’ve done to make this community so great. We take immense pride in being part of Northeast Ohio business landscape.

Steve Rosenberg, PhD

Ohio ranks near top of states for school voucher spending

November 28, 2023/0 Comments/in News /by Greg Dzuris

Ohio’s increase in school voucher spending this year for the EdChoice Expansion Program sets up the state to rank near the top nationally when it comes to taxpayer use of voucher dollars to attend private schools.

This is not only because of the increase in voucher money for each child but also because of an expansion in eligibility, allowing everyone to receive some form of help to pay for their children’s education outside of their home school district.

“Ohio is one of the states taking the lead in universal school choice,“ says Robert Enlow, president and chief executive of EdChoice, a national pro-school voucher nonprofit. “Other states are seeing a sea change in how we look at education and how we fund it going forward, and Ohio is on the tip of the spear for that.”

It’s that lead, however, that concerns critics of the voucher program, who say vouchers are taking money away from the public school system and only educating a small percentage of the school population.

Ohio is among just 14 states, Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico, that use voucher programs to provide parents and children avenues to attend different schools, though more than 30 states use voucher-adjacent tactics that achieve the same goal.

To get an idea of just how much Ohio is investing in vouchers in comparison to other states – large and small – cleveland.com took the total spending for the most recent school years where data was available on voucher programs in each state and divided it by the total number of students statewide, regardless of whether they were receiving vouchers

Before the expansion, Ohio spent an estimated $241 per capita in the 2020-2021 school year, behind only Maine ($318), Wisconsin ($491) and Vermont ($700).

With the budget increase for EdChoice Expansion to nearly $400 million and increases to other programs of smaller amounts, the Ohio state budget has allotted $964.5 million for the current school year, or about $514 per student.

By next school year, as many as 150,000 Ohio students could be attending schools with taxpayer-provided vouchers, based on current applications.

Vermont and Maine vouchers are primarily for students who live in areas where public schooling options are limited or non-existentand have to travel to another area, paid for using town tuition vouchers.

Wisconsin, like Ohio, has a mix of voucher programs, including income-eligible vouchers like Ohio’s EdChoice Expansion Program. But while Wisconsin also increased the value of its vouchers this year, it does not match Ohio’s expansion.

The number of applications approved by the state for students to be enrolled in Ohio’s voucher program nearly doubled this year, with more applications yet to be processed, preliminary data shows. Ohio has committed $240 million to the EdChoice Expansion program and is at risk of needing more.

School Voucher Programs in the US

Some states, like Ohio, have multiple voucher programs. This is because voucher programs cover a variety of needs.

“School choice started in many ways to help populations that were not getting the service they needed in the traditional sector,” Enlow says.

Many voucher programs aim to assist students with special needs, like Ohio’s Autism Scholarship Program and the Jon Peterson Special Needs Program. Others are for providing education to areas that do not have the right educational resources, like a local high school.

While vouchers only provide a set amount of money to cover private school tuition, there are other voucher-adjacent programs states use to allow students to go to different schools.

This includes education savings accounts, or ESAs, which let parents use an allocation of public money to cover education expenses, including private school tuition and homeschooling costs. This is what states like Florida rely on for school choice.

Another method is a tax credit scholarship program, which allows individuals to receive tax credits for donations to organizations that provide private school scholarships, used in places such as Arizona and Pennsylvania.

When accounting for all of these types of school-choice programs, 32 states have an option for parents or guardians to receive help sending a student to a private school.

According to Enlow, from the national pro-school voucher nonprofit, nearly 37% of students in the country are eligible for a private choice program, a 46% increase from just two years ago. This includes every child in Ohio, one of the largest states in the country.

The EdChoice Scholarship expansion

Ohio’s new EdChoice Scholarship expansion provides students from public schools outside of Cleveland the opportunity to attend participating schools. All students are eligible for vouchers, though the size of the voucher is dependent on income. Cleveland has a separate voucher program called the Cleveland Scholarship Program.

Before the expansion, themaximum voucher amount was $5,500 for students in K-8 and $7,500 for grades9-12, with an average voucher amount being $5,789. With the expansion, the maximum amount is now $6,165 for students in K-8 and $8,407 in 9-12.

The state also expanded eligibilityfor the full amount to 450% of the federal poverty level, or $135,000 for a family of four, from the previous 250% of the federal poverty level. Those with higher incomes will receive prorated benefits.

For instance, families at 451% to 500% of the poverty level are eligible for $5,200 for K-8 and $7,050 for 9-12. The value ratchets down as incomes get higher.The minimum amountfor families earning above 750%, or $225,000 or more for a family of four,is $650 for grades K-8 and $950 for high school.

As a result, the number of families applying for vouchers has also increased.

State education officials by mid-Octoberapproved 43,880 students for the EdChoice Expansion vouchers, which commits the state to $252 million for the scholarship, said Lacey Snoke, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Education and Workforce. At this rate, Ohio may overtake Indiana to have the most children on a singlevoucher program in the country.

Ohio’s rise in voucher use

This continues the exponential growth voucher programs have seen in Ohio, says Tanish Pruitt, a state policy fellow focused on education for the nonprofit advocacy organization Policy Matters Ohio.

In the 2006 fiscal year, the year before EdChoice was established, 6,288 vouchers were being used in the state. By 2014, the number more than quadrupled to 30,062 vouchers. That number is now up to 82,629 for all Ohio school voucher programs in the current school year.

Now for the 2023-24 school year, more than 103,000 vouchers have already been approved, with nearly 50,000 additional applications still being processed, most of which are for the EdChoice Expansion Program. Approval of these applicants would mean 1-in-12 children in Ohio would be going to school on a voucher.

“The cost of Ohio’s voucher programs has increased from $20.5 million in fiscal year 2006 to roughly $600 million in fiscal year 2023, Pruitt says. “The large increase in voucher cost from 2021 ($442 million) to 2022 ($555 million) was the result of both a significant increase in the number of voucher students as well as an increase in the voucher amounts.”

By 2025, Pruitt predicts voucher allocations in the state budget are expected to cross the $1 billion threshold.

Pruitt says that ballooning budgets can become a problem, pointing to Arizona as an example. Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Accounts program, an ESA, grew so rapidly that it will cost the state more than it budgeted, requiring reallocating resources.

Ohio’s rapid growth could pose a similar situation, as well as take money away from public schools.

“Vouchers have grown exponentially, while at the same time, we look at funding for our public schools and they grow incrementally,” Pruitt says. “Allocations in state funding could be going to public schools.”

Written by Zachary Smith, data reporter for Cleveland.com.

Click here to view the original article.

The Top 10 Elementary, Middle Schools in Ohio

November 28, 2023/0 Comments/in News /by Greg Dzuris

The U.S. News & World Report released a ranking of Ohio’s top elementary and middle schools Thursday, assessing nearly 80,000 schools across the country.

Each year, U.S. News & World Report has traditionally released a ranking list of high schools and universities in the country, and this year, they are also ranking elementary and middle schools.

In the middle and elementary rankings, schools are assessed on its share of students who were proficient or above proficient in their mathematics and reading/language arts state assessments, according to U.S. News & World Report.

Half of the formula assessed the scores themselves and the other half incorporated the test results in the context of socioeconomic demographics. States are judged individually, and the rankings use the same methodology for all included grade levels. Student-teacher ratios are applied to break ties in the overall score.

Here are the top 10 elementary schools and top 10 middle schools in Ohio, according to U.S. News & World Report:

Top 10 elementary schools

Miller City Elementary School: Miller City-New Cleveland Local Schools (Putnam County), serving kindergarten through grade five.
Wells Academy: Steubenville City Schools, serving pre-kindergarten through grade four.
Parkside Elementary School: Solon City Schools (near Cleveland), serving kindergarten through grade four.
Dorothy E. Lewis Elementary School: Solon City Schools (near Cleveland), serving kindergarten through grade four.
McKinley STEM Academy: Steubenville City Schools, serving pre-kindergarten through grade four.
Montgomery Elementary School: Sycamore Community Schools (near Cincinnati), serving kindergarten through grade four.
Hilltop Elementary School: Wyoming City Schools (near Cincinnati), serving grades kindergarten through grade four.
Russia Elementary School: Russia Local Schools (Shelby County), serving kindergarten through grade six.
Emerson Elementary School: Westerville City Schools (near Columbus), serving kindergarten through grade five.
Grace L. Roxbury Elementary School: Solon City Schools (near Cleveland), serving kindergarten through grade four.

Top 10 middle schools

Chestnut Ridge Elementary School: East Holmes Local Schools (Holmes County), serving kindergarten through grade eight.
Fort Loramie Junior-Senior High School: Fort Loramie Local Schools (Shelby County), serving grades seven through 12.
Mariemont Junior High School: Mariemont City Schools (near Cincinnati), serving grades seven and eight.
Orchard Middle School: Solon City Schools (near Cleveland), serving grades five and six.
School of Innovation: Willoughby-Eastlake City Schools (near Cleveland), serving grades three through eight.
Solon Middle School: Solon City Schools (near Cleveland), serving grades seven and eight.
Oakwood Junior High School: Oakwood City School District (in Dayton), serving grades seven and eight.
New Bremen High School: New Bremen Local Schools (Auglaize County), serving grades seven through 12.
Kalida High School: Kalida Local Schools (Putnam County), serving grades five through 12.
Russia High School: Russia Local Schools (Shelby County), serving grades seven through 12.

Written by Cole Behrens, Columbus Dispatch

Click here to view the original article.

A Heartwarming Tale of Heroism

November 1, 2023/0 Comments/in News /by Michelle Dolciato

We wanted to share with you a remarkable incident that unfolded at one of our partner schools recently. One of our dedicated nurses, Rachel Ocampo, played a pivotal role in saving the life of one of the students. Last week, there was a student who visited the clinic, complaining of not feeling well. The student appeared noticeably pale and unwell. The concerned parent promptly picked the student up from school and Rachel advised the parent to schedule a medical appointment due to the severity of the situation.

The next day the student returned to school, exhibiting the same distressing symptoms. Rachel once again urged the parent to seek medical attention, which, fortunately, they did. The medical assessment revealed that the student had a critical medical concern requiring urgent treatment at the hospital. While the exact cause of the illness remains a mystery, the medical professionals involved emphasized that, had it not been for the timely actions of our vigilant nurse, Rachel who recognized the need for further testing and treatment, the student’s life would
have been in grave danger.

The student’s parent reached out to express heartfelt gratitude to Rachel for discerning that something was amiss and, in doing so, played a pivotal role in saving this student’s life.

Let us extend our sincere appreciation and commendation to Rachel for her quick thinking and proactive approach in ensuring the student received the care that was so urgently needed.

See the story here

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