Lakeland School adopts Ukeru crisis-intervention training and expands multi-tiered supports

Principal Holly Smith, principal of Lakeland School, told the Walworth County Children with Disabilities Education Board on Jan. 22 that staff who attended an out-of-state certification course learned the Ukeru approach to nonviolent crisis intervention and that the school has formalized an Equitable Multi-Level Systems of Support framework to expand trauma-informed supports.

Ukeru is “a nonviolent crisis intervention” and “a Japanese word for ‘receive,’” Smith said, describing training that emphasized trauma-informed care, proactive supports, hands-off holds and techniques designed to avoid seclusion and restraint. She said Lakeland sent staff to a certification course in Crestwood, Illinois, and an out-of-state travel form was submitted to the county finance committee for consideration.

The training, Smith said, focuses on building relationships, using proactive supports and, when needed, using safe pads and “hands-free” techniques that reduce physical contact. “A lot of the times you use the edge of your hand to help get away instead of like ever putting hands on,” she said, describing how newer holds are intended to be less confrontational and reduce the risk of injury to students and staff.

The Ukeru content is being integrated into a broader Lakeland School approach. Smith presented the school’s Equitable Multi-Level Systems of Support, or EMLSS, a three-tiered framework that places equity at the center and pairs collaboration, high-quality instruction and strategic use of data to match supports to students’ needs. Smith said the framework clarifies procedures for Level 1 (universal), Level 2 (targeted) and Level 3 (intensive) learners; at the time of the meeting she said four students were in Level 3.

To track and plan interventions, Lakeland uses EduCLIMBER to hold “student of concern” meetings, collect data and coordinate teams that may include therapists, teachers and paraprofessionals. Smith described a behavior program support teacher role that coaches staff, models interventions, helps collect data and then fades support as staff build capacity.

Smith also described an interoception curriculum piloted with younger students to help neurodivergent learners (including students with ADHD, autism and ODD) recognize internal body signals such as hunger and tiredness. She said older-grade staff will receive the same training during an upcoming in-service day, with the goal of completing that phase by February.

Chair Bridal Holt praised the school’s efforts to adopt research-backed practices and noted the board appreciates Lakeland being “on the cutting edge of this type of research.”

Smith said staff and the board will continue to monitor results and that further training and implementation details will be reported at future meetings.