Peterson, who is working with this year’s graduating class, helps out a student. Photo by Celine Hoang.by Bethany Pham and Elise Tran, Staff Writers
Plans have been in the works at Fountain Valley High School (FVHS) to add a new program called the Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) in an effort to better the system between the administrators and students. Each administrator will oversee their designated grade and guide them throughout their following years in school.
“I think it’s going to help administration by us getting to know a specific group of kids better than we would otherwise if we weren’t focused on it,” said Assistant Principal of Activities Josh Lamar. “Because right now, we kind of all look at all 3600 kids and we help a kid as it comes up. This way we are narrowing our focus a little bit to a specific grade level so hopefully we are able to be a little more helpful and our hope is that for the kids, they’ve got a specific person that will step in and help them if they get into that difficult spot with either grades, attendance or something emotional going on in their lives.”
This new program consists of three steps to help students, either socially, emotionally, or academically.
“What we are doing on our campus is looking at how can we help kids, how can we improve how we divide things up,” said Lamar. “We really aren’t changing who does what, it’s more we’ve added something.”
This year’s freshmen will turn to Lamar for help, sophomores to Assistant Principal of Supervision Marc Trocchio, juniors to Assistant Principal of Curriculum Eva White and seniors to Assistant Principal of Special Education and Guidance Nancy Peterson. To reinforce their bond with students, the assistant principals will continue to offer support to their respective graduating classes throughout high school, from ninth grade to twelfth grade, so students will be able to easily approach a familiar face for help.
“It increases the connections between adults and students,” said Trocchio.
The first tier deals with what’s happening in the classroom and the issues that can be solved in the classroom. It could simply be by sitting up front or getting extra help from the teacher. More serious problems, however, may call for more help than what eachers can provide.
The second tier deals with situations that go beyond the classroom where the teacher needs aid from the assistant principals. The problems met at the second tier could range from low grades to a tough time a home or even a recent family death. This is where the assistant principals intervene in order to get these students back on track.
However, in the case that further aid is required, students are placed in the third tier for more intensive help and treatment. Their designated assistant principal will look into getting them help from external sources, whether it be from student study teams, courses at Valley Vista, or support from the school’s psychologist Cynthia Olaya.
Another part of the MTSS program is led by English teacher Sean Ziebarth and business teacher Steve Eggert, who are teachers on special assignment (TOSA). Their main objective is to spread the MTSS program and help find the students that may need some extra guidance.
As the MTSS program is new to the FVHS campus, many administrators are eager to initiate the program.
“I think it’s a fantastic idea. It’s helping us do some different things for students that I think students already appreciate,” said Trocchio.
