Imagine switching high schools right in the middle of a semester, you know no one, you have no help enrolling in classes, you have no support from any adult figure and you are expected to do well or face switching schools yet once again.  This can be a real scenario for students in the San Mateo Court and Community Schools—alternative schools for students on probation or who have been expelled. All of these students need caring relationships and guidance more than ever in order to excel both academically and personally. Every student, at some point in the year, are required to transition back to public school—often a school they are unfamiliar with, where they know no one and have no support. It can be a recipe for failure.

As part of our Collaborative Counseling Program at the Court and Community Schools, we recognized that more needed to transpire during the transition process to increase student success and reduce recidivism.  Over the summer, the Cleo Eulau Center and the San Mateo Office of Education collaborated to start the Transition Program, piloting at Sequoia High School. The goal is to help increase the likelihood that Court and Community School students, making the transition back to public school, have the support and resources they need to stay in school and achieve academic success.

This has been a very exciting year for the Cleo Eulau Center! Part of our strategic direction is to influence the field at a national level, as well as establish key partnerships that will help us advance our mission and keep us organizationally and fiscally strong.

Over the summer, we partnered with The New Teacher Center, a national organization with the mission to improve student learning by supporting the development of an inspired, dedicated and highly qualified teaching force. CEC is working with the NTC to develop a new curriculum addressing social and emotional wellness and student resiliency. This collaboration will reach 56 veteran teachers, 550 new teachers, and 7000+ students. CEC is also providing in-depth “meta-coaching” to 5 NTC veteran teachers in support of 30 new teachers in Silicon Valley.

Thanks to the support of our loyal donors, we are able to continue to offer our services to local schools and partners, reaching more educators and students every day! Our partnerships, coupled with our direct services to local schools, brings the total number of educators we serve, or “reach”, to nearly 800 and students to 10,000!

Thank you to all our supporters who recently donated to our Annual Campaign. With your help, CEC raised, to date, $25,000! The annual campaign is a critical part of our fundraising plan and provides necessary financial support each year to hundreds and educators and thousands of students! Also, a special thanks to the following foundations and individuals for thier recent financial support:

• Altos Foundation: $2500
• Atkinson Foundation: $5000
• George Sandy Foundation: $20,000
• Morgan Family Foundaton: $15,000
• Joan Lane: $10,000

Our community was in shock this summer after four consecutive teen suicides, and one more last week, all by train. These deaths have forced community members to come together, offering a number of resources to teens and families. Palo Alto Council of PTA’s recently held a form: A View of Youth Stress with over 400 in attendance. During the presentation, attendees learned strategies for dealing with stress, the importance of resiliency in students, signs to look for that may indicate depression, and also heard from students about the stressors they face.

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