We all know that the fall semester is going to be another departure from the ways that we've been teaching for most of our careers.

Here's what you can expect from your PALS support team. By the time school begins, we'll have a secondary PALS Blend Course in place that can be student-facing. It'll be complete with prompts for reflection and sharing, activities, and places to share service opportunities and experiences. You should be use it in asynchronous learning and supplement with real-time virtual meetings or classroom meetings, depending on what the public health situation is like.

Elementary PALS fam, please let me know if you need access to the elementary Blend course for PALS. It's aligned with the Second Step curriculum, and can be used to structure weekly meetings and check-ins.

We'll also share Zoom protocols so that you can give your students a clear idea of expectations and best practices that's in line with AISD's legal department.

Finally, I want to make sure that you all 100% totally know that you can reach out to me with ANY concerns you have about your program. If your students aren't participating, or you're not sure about taking attendance in asynchronous learning time, or can't get the course to import from Blend Commons, or aren't sure that your Principal is supportive of PALS, please just whistle. You have a team of support people who are working on your behalf to make sure that PALS is healthy and strong across all of AISD.

AISD District PALS Lead, Jane Ross (Director, Child Study Systems)

Jane oversees all PALS activities for AISD, and makes sure that all we do complies with AISD's legal obligations and guidelines. She advocates for PALS with principals and campus leaders.

• Oversees PALS program district-wide

• Ensures AISD approves PALS middle and high school course yearly

• Provides leadership and advice to PALS teachers and counselors

• Ensures PALS follows district policies, procedures, and related legal requirements

• Meets with elementary, middle, and high school PALS principals regarding campus PALS implementation

• Meets with current and prospective funders regarding support for PALS

• Secures district resources (financial, facilities, materials, etc) for PALS

• Advocates for PALS to Senior District Leadership

• Advocates for PALS to campus administrators

• Establishes and upholds the PALS Program Essentials and Standards

• Supports professional development opportunities for PALS students, teachers, and counselors

• Captures outcomes data in eCST, AISD’s electronic case management system

• Coordinates with other district departments to ensure PALS is fully integrated into AISD

• Ensures district leaders receive copies of our PALS Press

• Provides news outlets with information regarding PALS student successes

• Provides the Superintendent and Board of Trustees with updates related to PALS

AISD PALS Program Lead, Stacia Bowley (MTSS Coach for PALS)

Stacia directly supports PALS teachers and counselors, builds and organizes curriculum, helps to plan events and trainings, and communicates policy and best practices to PALS teachers and counselors.

• Meets with school-based staff to solve logistical barriers to effective PALS programming

• Designs and organizes curriculum for PALS on all grade levels with help from Elementary, Secondary, and TBRI Leads

• Plans and facilitates PALS district-wide trainings for all levels of PALS in partnership with Elementary, Secondary, and TBRI Leads

• Plans and facilitates PALS Picnic and other celebrations in partnership with Elementary, Secondary, and TBRI Leads

• Provides training in partnership with the TBRI Lead and other MTSS Coaches for True Colors and experiential approaches to community building

• Provides site visits, coaching, and feedback to PALS teachers and counselors

• In coordination with Elementary Lead and Secondary Lead, plans PALS counselor and teacher events for networking and peer-driven program support

• Advocates for PALS programs alongside AISD District PALS Lead and helps campus leaders choose effective PALS teachers when turnover occurs

• Works to ensure that all campuses continue PALS each year

• Creates and distributes the PALS Press

• Co-host leadership team meetings

• Collaborates with SEL and other entities in Child Study Systems so that PALS becomes an intersection of strands in the therapeutic web of student supports

• Coordinates with AISD’s Department of Research and Evaluation to capture data regarding PALS, and turns that data into program reports

• Serves on AISD’s Race Equity Council, Travis County Adolescent Health Collaborative, AISD’s Mentoring Collaborative, and in other groups to ensure that PALS reflects best practices for mentoring, mental health, and equity

• Establishes and upholds the PALS Program Essentials and Standards

AISD Elementary PALS Lead, Lisa Schmitz (Counselor, Menchaca Elementary)

In addition to being a fantastic counselor at Menchaca, Lisa is a resource for other elementary PALS counselors. As someone who sees through the elementary lens, she can provide insight on program logistics and operations. She helps to plan trainings, organize curriculum, too!

• Develops ongoing and consistent communication with Elementary PALS counselors

• Supports the development of new PALS programs at elementary schools

• Shares information to and from PALS leadership

• Supports elementary programs with materials and structure plans

• Brainstorms to make best use of PALS programs within the constraints of individual schools’ limitations

• Champions the cause and encourages counselors to develop and build their programs

• Helps plan events and offer training opportunities

• Facilitates the use of students in positions of leadership

• Participates as a trainer for events

• Helps counselors develop programs that incorporate a variety of school program requirements to implement under the umbrella of PALS

• Presents her own program as a model for continuing to grow opportunities for PALS to develop leadership skills within the school community

• Advocates for the ASCA (American School Counselors Association)-aligned responsibilities for PALS counselors

• Contributes to the PALS Press

• Establishes and upholds the PALS Program Essentials and Standards

AISD Secondary PALS Lead, Jane Howk (Counselor, Ann Richards)

Jane is a former PALS teacher who loves middle and high school students. In addition to sending out weekly updates for PALS teachers, Jane is a great resource for thinking through service ideas, classroom dynamics, and work-arounds to logistical hurdles. She also helps write curriculum and plans trainings and other events.

• Contacts the PALS teachers weekly with information and instructional resources to use

• Provides materials for PALS teachers to give to their PALS for use as mentors

• Coordinates a monthly gathering to facilitate community and provide teacher support

• Gathers feedback from teachers on specific areas of needs for topics at monthly meetings

• Facilitates district-wide professional development sessions for students and teachers

• Helps organize the high school PALS picnic

• Facilitates the use of students in positions of leadership

• Helps to plan PALS professional learning for students and teachers at the beginning of the year

• Helps to locate facilities for and organize Planning and Reflection days for PALS teachers at the end of the school year

• Serves as a mentor to returning and new PALS teachers

• Incorporates SEL in the high school PALS program

• Contributes to the PALS Press

• Establishes and upholds the PALS Program Essentials and Standards

AISD TBRI and NME (Trauma-Informed) PALS Lead, Teri Wood (AISD TBRI Coordinator)

• Provides Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI) snapshot training for all Secondary and Elementary PALS

• Provides Neurosequential Model in Education (NME) snapshot training for all Secondary and Elementary PALS

• Teams with Program Lead and other MTSS coaches to provide True Colors training for Elementary and Secondary PALS

• Serves as a member of the planning team for the Elementary PALS picnic and leads team building activities at all the picnics

• Promotes the inclusion of PALS students in our NME pilot school activities through the NME Smore that goes out to all pilot campuses and to Dr. Bruce Perry

• Coordinates in-person and virtual meetings with Dr. Bruce Perry

• Promotes the PALS program in AISD as an integral part of a larger "therapeutic web" designed to support students and families across the tiers of need and share what PALS in AISD are doing at the Central Texas Neural Network and the Travis County Children's Collaborative

• Collaborates with PALS Program Lead on the PALS curriculum

• Ensures that PALS operates through a trauma-informed lens

• Establishes and upholds the PALS Program Essentials and Standards

YouthLaunch Executive Director and PALS Champion, Fritz Fitzpatrick

• Proponent of PALS/YouthLaunch Public-Private-Partnership (filling in gaps where AISD can't provide 100% support)
  
• Advocates for PALS program support and expansion alongside AISD District PALS partners
• Works to ensure that all campuses continue PALS each year, alongside Jane R. and Stacia
  
• Provides leadership and advice to PALS teachers, counselors and administrators
• Meets with elementary, middle, and high school PALS principals regarding campus PALS implementation and sustainability
• Collaborates with current and prospective funders regarding support for PALS
• Supports professional development opportunities for PALS students, teachers, and counselors
• Plans and facilitates PALS district-wide trainings for all levels of PALS in partnership with Jane R., Stacia, Lisa, Jane H., and Teri
  
• Plans and facilitates PALS Picnic and other celebrations in partnership with Jane R., Stacia, Lisa, Jane H., and Teri
• Plans and facilitates PALS counselor and teacher events for networking and peer-driven program support with Jane R., Stacia, Lisa, Jane H., and Teri
• PALumini - The Austin PALS Alumni Corps