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COMMUNITY NOW BELIEVES
Community Now believes that relationships at the school site are key to achieving our goal of promoting a positive climate change. We engage the principals, counselors, psychologists, Parent Ambassadors, and other administrators. This includes, but is not limited to, speaking at principals’ meetings, counselors’ meetings, Parent Ambassador meetings, staff meetings, and other events. We create a schedule of events and plan the school year with the administrators. Building these relationships throughout the school year is essential to the success of the program.
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"Moreno Valley principals state that The GET PLUGGED IN program helps enhance the overall positive climate at the school, enhancing student’s motivation to learn, improving student’s attitudes toward school, increasing student’s safety, improving student attendance and reduces aggression/bullying at the school site.”
ACCORDING TO THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
WHY SCHOOL CLIMATE MATTERS
A growing body of research shows that school climate strongly influences students' motivation to learn and improve academic achievement. When school members feel safe, valued, cared for, respected, and engaged, learning increases.
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Schools that provide students with support to meet these basic needs allow them to grow socially and emotionally and avoid problems ranging from emotional distress to drug use to violence—in addition to helping them achieve academically.
CREATING A POSITIVE CLIMATE
A positive school climate must be a shared mission, created and sustained by students, parents, and school staff, and supported by the community. Efforts to improve school climate must be an integral part of school improvement plans in order to have a positive and sustainable effect. Too often, fragmented solutions are implemented, are marginalized in the school, and improvements are short-lived. In order to achieve meaningful and sustainable improvements, schools must have a clear sense of their vision and goals. Schools also need to understand the barriers to learning that their students experience beyond the school and address those barriers before students can achieve and thrive.
RESEARCH ON POSITIVE SCHOOL CLIMATE AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE
School Climate and Academic Performance Across California High Schools
This study demonstrates how school climate, as measured by the School Climate Index, is strongly related to state Academic Performance Index (API) scores. As SCI scores increase—as high schools became safer, more supportive, and more engaging—API scores increase as well.
Positive School Climate: A Hallmark of Academically Successful Schools
A study showing that middle and high schools that are able to "beat-the-odds" by performing better academically than predicted based on their student demographics are found to have much more positive levels of school climate relative to other schools.