Dear Duncanville ISD Families,

We thank you for being our valued partners as we work together to educate your scholar. Your child’s success is our top priority, which is why we strive to develop the whole child including their social-emotional wellness. This year we are working to expand the social-emotional learning (SEL) support provided to our students. Therefore, over the next several weeks, students and teachers will participate in a confidential, online survey to assess their SEL skills.

From the results of these surveys, counselors and teachers in our district will learn ways that we can provide support and guidance to enhance each child’s social-emotional skills to support them to not only achieve academically but to also prepare them for personal success. We will be asking your child to reflect on their own mindsets and approaches to learning via this online survey. If a student doesn’t feel like they have enough information to answer a question, they will be able to skip that item. Students will complete the survey at school and it should take approximately 15-20 minutes.

We are partnering with a third-party vendor to support us in administering these surveys. The survey content will ask students to reflect on the following topics:

● Self-management

● Social awareness

● Self-efficacy

● Well-being

● Sense of belonging

● Student-Teacher relationships

We are asking that all of our students participate in the surveys, as their responses will provide invaluable insights into their experiences and how we can improve and adapt our district to better meet their needs. If you have any questions about the SEL survey or would like to have your child opt-out, please contact your child’s counselor.

Sincerely,

Duncanville ISD Counseling Department

In Duncanville ISD, our teachers cultivate SEL by creating a safe and positive climate in their classrooms. Watch this video of one of our high school students, Evan Lee, share his story about his English teacher, Mrs. Shaunna Kile. ​

If students are in need of backpacks, school supplies, clothes, or food, we have it! Our Panther Pantry is stocked, and we can provide students with the necessary resources they need. If you know a student/family in need of basic resources, please reach out to our social workers.

Elementary & Intermediate Schools:

Mrs. Shanice Dessein

Alternative, Middle, & High Schools:

Mrs. Rhonda Cole

Support and teach your child skills as they take risks.

1. Do not do for your child what they can do. When we do for them instead of allowing them to do for themselves we not only rob them of the satisfaction and natural reward of feeling accomplished, we can unconsciously send the message that we don’t believe they can do it.
2. Have faith in your child as they face as many challenges as possible in their daily lives. Remember that we want to send the message that we believe in them and teach them coping skills. Children who learn coping skills early in life have a leg up from other children who have not learned that they are capable of problem-solving their issues or handling difficulty. They will become more confident.
3. It is important that children learn how to deal with disappointment and strengthen their ability to sustain, deal, and overcome uncomfortable or less pleasant feelings like frustration, loss, loneliness, and embarrassment. Resist the urge to fix the feeling or the problem for the child. Support their expressing and processing their feelings in healthy ways.
4. Help your child problem solve without giving them your solution, and if they cannot think of a way to solve their problem, offer them 2 solutions to choose from. Guide them in being creative and coming up with ideas on how to solve their own problems. Support them in solving problems when they are calm, not when they are emotionally ridden. Be supportive when their choices do not work out. Ask them what else they can do, rather than tell them what they should do. When we tell our children what to do, we can make them dependent upon us and others.
5. Model resiliency to your child.