Supporting Relocated Students Who Enroll in Catholic Schools
(Featured October 3, 2005)
Philip J. Lazarus, Ph.D., NCSP
Consultant to the VIRTUS Programs
In the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Catholic schools play a pivotal role in helping relocated students experience a sense of safety and security. The challenges are many but the rewards are great. Schools receiving hurricane survivors are given a unique opportunity to make a great difference in the lives of young people—not only those directly impacted by the devastating storm but their own students as well. If support is structured properly, students from the welcoming school can learn valuable lessons about charity, compassion and strength of spirit and true Catholic values. This opportunity to reach out to survivors is real world character education.
The community-school connection
When schools are at the forefront of a recovery effort, they can work hand in glove with the community. Parents need to be aware of all the community resources available. Then communication can be fostered, connections developed, and services delivered in a timely manner. Some examples include inviting FEMA to the school; providing workshops to parents; and serving as a clearinghouse to help parents find jobs or job training, shelter, clothing, healthcare providers, insurance information, babysitters, and all types of auxiliary services. The school can help parents connect to mental health providers and relief agencies such as the Red Cross, the Salvation Army and Catholic charities. Volunteer physicians, nurses and other health care providers may be willing to offer their services within the school itself; or the school can work with health care providers within the community to evaluate the unique health care needs of each child.
The religious institutions-school connection
In the aftermath of any tragedy, students get much of their strength from their faith. Catholic churches can provide support and comfort to all the grieving children and their families. The strong connection between the church and the school makes this process work. Religious support groups are particularly helpful to students and families following a natural disaster. Catholic youth leaders have a particularly important role in supporting relocated students and may wish to hold weekly support groups for dislocated children and adolescents.
Because not all children in Catholic schools are Catholic, schools can provide information to families about the churches, synagogues, and mosques in their community and ask parents if they would like to be contacted by a local minister, rabbi, or religious leader. Connecting families to a local church can provide essential spiritual support, increase their sense of community, and decrease their sense of isolation.
The school-family connection
Establishing a welcoming committee from the school will help families feel wanted and embraced. The Parent-Teacher Organization, the principal or superintendent, or a select committee may take leadership in this role. Families or groups of families may want to adopt a relocated family. They may invite relocated families to dinners, activities, church, or school sponsored events.
Schools can help children by giving each child a backpack filled with school supplies, toiletries, and toys and games. Many children also appreciate receiving stuffed teddy bears as this can be a great comfort at night. Remember to also have backpacks available for children too young to attend school as often when their school-age children receive a backpack, the younger siblings want one also.
Parents may need a lot of help with babysitting services as they try to rebuild their lives. Helping coordinate babysitting services is a tremendous help.
School staff should meet personally with all the relocated students and their families. They will need all the necessary information about school procedures and rules. Also they should be supplied contact information of key staff members. Assign a lead staff member as a primary point of contact in addition to the child’s teacher. Also a parent of a child in the relocated student’s class can also be designated as a key resource.
School personnel should encourage families to share relevant history of the relocated child as well as relate the experiences and losses that the child has experienced. Schools need to gather information about any risk factors and trauma history as well as the child’s sources of emotional and social support.
Parents if they still live in shelters or temporary housing may want to volunteer in the school. This will give them a sense of purpose and a feeling that they are giving back to the community that has embraced them. If paid positions become available from FEMA grants or the state and local government, then parents may be employed by the school.
The classroom-student connection
Teachers and all other staff will need information on the trauma response, helping children cope in the aftermath, mental health issues, and how to integrate traumatized children into the classroom. If the school has a crisis team, make members available to support teachers and staff. Allow time for staff to meet, discuss issues, share concerns, and plan interventions.
Teachers need to ensure that not only are relocated students welcomed but that they are embraced. School supplies and books need to be made available immediately. Help create a culture of compassion in the classroom. Make sure that relocated students are included in all activities and make sure that they never eat alone.
Teachers need to be encouraged to maintain routine and structure. Efforts should be taken to alter workload expectation for the incoming students and avoid the introduction of too much material during the transitional school reentry period. Teachers need to be mindful not to assign homework to students who don’t have homes.
Classroom teachers also need to be aware of signs of post traumatic stress disorder in children and alert the school crisis team, school administrators, school social worker or school counselor of those children that seem most at risk. Also Catholic schools should request the services of school psychologists to evaluate the unique emotional needs of traumatized children and to develop a working treatment plan.
Some other suggestions for classroom teachers include:
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Meet and greet every student as they enter the classroom and say their name.
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Remain calm and reassuring.
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Remind incoming students that life can get better just a little bit at a time. However, make no promises; the child’s future is still unpredictable.
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Acknowledge and validate children’s feelings at appropriate times.
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Express empathy about what happened to each child. Say something like, “I am very sorry that you lost your home and your community in Hurricane Katrina. I will do my best to help you and want you to feel welcomed here. We will be your new friends.”
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Provide opportunities for children to discuss their feelings but don’t force discussion.
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Involve children in activities that permit them to make choices and re-establish some control over their environment.
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Involve students in recovery-oriented activities and projects.
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Use drama, art, music, and photography to help children express their emotions.
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Use cooperative learning and collaborative activities that foster connections, establish student’s friendships, and provide support.
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Promote and praise the problem solving skills of all your students.
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Encourage every child to reach out to lend a helping hand to the relocated child.
The peers-student connection
Establish a peer mentoring program. All relocated students need to be assigned one or two current students to help them acclimate to their new school. If a relocated student has a special interest (e.g., band, chorus, basketball, etc), try to assign them a mentor with the same interest if possible. Also take into account the culture, language and ethnic background of the students. Mentors might introduce the student to potential friends, include the new student in after school activities, and provide homework assistance.
A staff member may oversee the mentor program and discuss any difficult issues with them. Depending on the level of trauma of incoming students, mentors may need time to discuss difficult issues raised. Make sure that mentors know that they need to alert the assigned staff member if the incoming students are showing signs of severe distress.
Mentoring can be accomplished on a number of different levels. One way to do this is to have a classroom peer serve as a mentor to the dislocated student. Another way is to have older children mentor incoming younger children. It has been my experience that mentors get a great deal of emotional satisfaction helping fellow students and this can be a highlight of their day.
The school-relocated child connection
The school can do two important things to support relocated students. The first is to make each child feel welcomed, cared for, and special. It is the attitude of the teachers, staff, and students that is critical in assuring that all relocated children feel embraced by a community of support.
The second is to instill in each child a resilient mind set filled with optimism and hope, satisfying interpersonal relationships, and effective coping strategies. Teachers can discuss how other communities that have been impacted by hurricanes in the past have recovered and prospered. This may instill a sense of a positive future. Activities need to be structured so that relocated children can make new friends. Remember that most students say they like to go to school to be with their friends rather than to learn geometry or geography. Teachers can help children improve their coping skills by asking them to identify which strategies have worked the best in the past and which ones seem to be working now.
Other things the school can do are to:
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Establish daily routines so that the child is able to have a sense of what to expect in school.
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Provide opportunities for children to share their ideas and listen carefully to their concerns or fears.
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Be sensitive to the disruption that relocation may have and be responsive to the needs of the child.
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Consider the developmental level and unique experiences of each child; it is important to remember that as children vary, so will their responses to the disruption of relocation.
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Help to provide accurate information and address inaccurate rumors or myths.
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Understand that it is perfectly normal for children to discuss the event over and over again.
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Increase staffing for before and after school care. If possible, extend the service for additional hours and even on weekends.
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Younger children may not even know what a hurricane is, so it is important to explain this to the class.
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Develop an advisory committee of relocated students to report back to school staff about what resources and changes in routines will help them cope in the aftermath.
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Provide information to the child that includes his or her new address and ways to get home. Make sure the bus driver knows where to deliver each child. When students are relocated they may get confused and not even know how to get to their new home or shelter.
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Most of all, listen to all the students. If you listen closely enough they will be able to tell you what they need.
The school-relocated child with special needs connection
In some Catholic schools, students have special needs or have Individualized Educational Plans. Understand that school records, psychological evaluations or Individualized Educational Plans from the student’s previous school most likely will not be available. Obtaining this information from the home school or parents is ideal but students may need to be assessed as well. Schools should work with a local school psychologist and general education and special education staff to determine needs and implement supports. Initially, it may be best to place students based upon the parent’s report while the student is awaiting an evaluation.
Philip J. Lazarus is the lead consultant to VIRTUS programs on violence in the schools. He has provided crisis response and assistance to children, families, and school districts in the aftermath of hurricanes, tornadoes, and other natural disasters.
Adapted from:
Jimerson, S.R., Brock, S.E., Cowan, K. (2005). Responding to Hurricane Katrina: Helping students relocate and supporting their mental health needs.
Lazarus, P. J. (2005) Helping relocated students in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina: Using a social-ecological model for intervention.
Lazarus, P. J., & Jimerson, S. R., Brock, S. E. (2002). Natural disasters. In S. E. Brock, P. J. Lazarus, & S. R. Jimerson (Eds.), Best practices in school crisis prevention and intervention (pp. 435-450).
Lazarus, P. J., & Jimerson, S. R., Brock, S. E. (2003). Helping children after natural disasters: Information for parents and teachers.
Zenere, F. (2004).Hurricane experiences provide lessons for the future. NASP Communiqué, Vol. 33, #5.
Zenere, F. & Lazarus, P. J. (1999). Winds of terror: Children's response to hurricane and tornado disasters. In A. Canter & S. Carrol (Eds.), Crisis prevention and response: A collection of NASP resources (pp. 223-234).
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