Somers district outlines executive-functioning rollout, starts new student wellness assessment

SOMERS, N.Y. — At its Oct. 7 workshop, the Somers Central School District described a districtwide push to teach executive-functioning skills explicitly and to administer a new, free student wellness assessment in grades 5 through 12.

Phil Kavanaugh, a district presenter, told the board the district has built a multi-year professional development program so teachers can “teach and model for all students the lifelong skills of self-regulation, self-management and effective social engagement.” Tommy Albano, a district presenter on physical wellness and health curriculum, described a parallel K–8 health program designed to make lessons age appropriate and consistent across Primrose, SIS and the middle school.

The district will administer a student self-assessment this week in grades 5–12. The instrument was selected by the district’s social emotional wellness advisory committee and is based on work used in Washoe County School District in Nevada; the district described the tool as free and focused on students’ self-perceived skills — for example, emotion knowledge, self-awareness and planning — rather than clinical screening. Phil Kavanaugh said the new tool “focuses much more on academic skills” and aims to give students and parents feedback on strengths and areas to develop. He contrasted it with a prior assessment the district used, saying the earlier vendor folded and that earlier instrument included a psychological-distress bucket that staff felt was intrusive.

District presenters described the instructional side of the initiative as a long-term effort that began in 2022: whole-faculty trainings, administrator trainings, smaller cohort sessions, and a cadre of teacher “turnkey” trainers who can coach colleagues. Kavanaugh described practical classroom strategies already in use: a visible working clock to help students “play with future time,” and a “get ready, do, done” model that begins by showing students what the finished product should look like. “Executive functioning is not just for our students. It’s just more challenging for a developing brain,” Kavanaugh said.

Albano described how the K–8 health and wellness curriculum aligns lessons from early grades to middle school, giving Primrose students repeated exposure to concepts — such as nutrition, sleep and hygiene — that are reinforced later in SIS and the middle school. He described hands-on lessons (for example, food-plate activities and a hand-washing module that used black lights to show germs) and monthly push-in lessons at SIS.

Board members at the workshop praised the program’s focus on time management and self-awareness and noted the work ties into college- and career-readiness supports the district already uses. The district said results from the assessment will be shared with students and parents (posted to the student backpack when available) and will be used to inform tier 1 instruction and wellness supports; presenters emphasized the tool is intended to provide skill-focused feedback rather than generate urgent clinical alerts.

Next steps the district described include continuing teacher workshops on Oct. 14 focused on classroom strategies for executive functioning and self-management, administering the assessment in grades 5–12 this week, and using assessment results to identify common areas for classroom-level support and possible small-group interventions.

Board members thanked the presenters for the work and said they expected the material to help students’ classroom readiness and long-term planning skills.