Soledad Unified School District

Mental Health Awareness Summit at Soledad High School

The Soledad Youth Council hosted a Mental Health Awareness Summit at Soledad High School on Thursday. Speakers included: The Monterey County Behavioral Health, Kacey Rodenbush who spoke to the audience about the following services offered to Soledad Unified School District Students:

Suicide Prevention & Response
Stress Management
Mindfulness Training
Trauma-informed Care/Healing
Family Therapy
Crisis Intervention
One to one therapy

Sun Street Centers also shared information about their services at Soledad High School & Main Street Middle School:

LifeSkills Training (LST) which educates the students on tobacco, alcohol, and drug use; as well as teachers knowledge and skills that assist with personal development
Peer Mentor Groups: Students who are referred by an administrator to visit with the facilitator on a rotating schedule
S.T.E.P.S. (Safe Teens Empowerment Program): STEPS is a drug and alcohol prevention peer to peer mentoring after-school program

Other services offered at Soledad USD includes:

Harmony at Home for our elementary students. They include Sticks & Stones. Students are referred to Sticks & Stones to learn healthy ways to express their feelings and are taught how to stay safe at home.

Remember, Soledad Unified School District also provides the following:

Counselors at all school sites
Family Liaisions
Services for Foster & Homeless Students
Nurse & LVN
Psychologist Services
Zones of Regulation (beginning in elementary schools)
Deescalation training for staff

The summit was a great success. In attendance were representatives from Assembly member Rios office; County Supervisor, Chris Lopez; Dr. Guss, County Superintendent of Schools; Michael McHatten, City Manager; Tim Vanoli, SUSD Superintendent; Randy Bangs, Associate Superintendent, all our Board Members, staff members, parents and students.

Contact SUSD to learn more about the resources offered to our students! The following individuals can help to identify the proper supports and get students connected to the appropriate personnel:

Randy W. Bangs, Associate Superintendent of Ed Services at: rbangs@soledad.k12.ca.us

Kaniz Frank, Student Services Coordinator at: kfrank@soledad.k12.ca.us

Wendy Salisbury, School Psychologist at: wsalisbury@soledad.k12.ca.us

Congratulations to the Soledad Youth Council for organizing the event!


	Frank Ledesma Elementary Playground Project The students at Frank Ledesma Elementary School are now enjoying and loving their new play structure! The project was completed during the Winter Break.

Frank Ledesma Elementary Playground Project

The students at Frank Ledesma Elementary School are now enjoying and loving their new play structure! The project was completed during the Winter Break.


The Santa Lucia Mountains A view from the District Office	Santa Lucia Mountains Gabilan Elementary	It was a cold day on Friday but... We don't get snow too often this close to Soledad. We live in a beautiful valley!