Marshall schools expand BARR and Second Step social-emotional programs after state grant

Peter Thor, principal at Southview Elementary, Peggy Reynolds, principal at Marshall Middle School, and Bennett Apple, assistant principal at Marshall Middle School, told the Marshall Public School District board that the district is expanding two coordinated programs — BARR and Second Step — after receiving a state grant to support rollout at the elementary and middle school levels.

The district is using BARR (Building Assets, Reducing Risks) to organize relationship-building, teacher cohorts, data use, and targeted supports. "BARR is a framework that stands for building assets and reducing risks," Bennett Apple said, describing the program's eight strategies and its focus on the "whole student" — attendance, academic needs and social-emotional needs.

The programs were funded in part through a state grant. Peter Thor said Southview received a $230,000 grant for three years to pilot and expand BARR activities. He described weekly 25-minute U-time activities at the elementary level that expose students to identity, executive functioning and conflict-resolution lessons. "My teachers really enjoy it because they don't have to really prep anything," Thor said.

At the middle school, staff trained all certified teachers for two days in August and implemented I-time lessons that mirror elementary U-time lessons at a higher level. Peggy Reynolds described small-block and big-block teacher team meetings, a Community Connect group for highest-need students, and weekly tracking of behaviors and attendance. "We have a little system of levels 0 through 4 for student needs," Reynolds said, noting early signs that level 3 and level 4 behaviors are down from last year.

The district also uses the Second Step curriculum for explicit social-emotional instruction. Southview and the middle school have dedicated staff for this work: Second Step lessons are led at the elementary level by Jen High and at the middle school by Mrs. Jessica Williams, who also provides executive-functioning supports and conflict resolution. Thor and Reynolds said staff plan to reassess continuation of the Second Step curriculum when the current grant period ends.

Both schools emphasized professional development and use of a BARR coach (Sarah Thorson) for weekly support and data review. Thor said the district sent pilot teams to a national BARR conference to prepare implementation. Reynolds described intentional scheduling to involve pathway and specials teachers in I-time so students see the same curriculum across classes.

District staff said they will move to fuller "big block" teamings in year three, pending planning time. Administrators said they will continue to monitor behavior referral data, chronic absenteeism and missing-assignment reports and report results to the board.

The presentation concluded with an invitation for questions and a note that the district will decide later whether to renew the Second Step curriculum after the grant period ends.