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Mount Vernon Middle School counselors outline new MTSS and TBRI steps to boost belonging
Summary
Middle‑school counselors told the board they revamped MTSS procedures, trained staff in TBRI approaches and formed a care committee to strengthen student belonging and staff morale; presenters described a new collaborative MTSS form and follow‑up cadence.
Mount Vernon Middle School staff told the board that a combination of trust‑based relational intervention (TBRI), a rebuilt multi‑tiered system of support (MTSS) and a staff care committee are the core of efforts to improve student belonging and outcomes.
“Teachers here didn't just care about my grades, they cared about me,” a student testimonial read during the presentation that Dr. Lori Katz introduced. Aaron Brown, the school's TBRI lead, said every staff member has been trained in TBRI since 2022 and that a leadership group is helping spread best practices across teams.
Caitlyn Baldwin described a summer review of MTSS that led staff to “wipe the slate clean” and rebuild the process. She said counselors and a leadership team met with every teacher team during the first semester to reinforce tier‑one strategies and then introduced a new form to document interventions and outcomes.
Jay Jones, the life coach, said the new MTSS meetings are structured, efficient and collaborative: staff fill out a form that records what has been tried, what worked, and agreed next steps, and the team reconvenes in roughly four weeks to evaluate progress. “When we pull all that together, it's hard for an adult ... to push back and not be a part of the team,” Jones said.
Presenters stressed that the MTSS form includes the student's voice and sets specific follow‑up tasks. They also described a care committee of roughly 10–15 staff members that plans morale initiatives and onboarding supports to help retain staff and sustain the classroom environment.
The board received the report without action and praised the counseling team for its focus on student relationships and teacher support.
