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District details social-emotional learning gains, expands school-based mental-health services
Summary
District student-services staff presented improved fidelity on SEL practices, data from universal screeners and trauma assessments, and an expansion of school-based therapists through a Children’s Wisconsin partnership to increase timely access to care.
The Middleton-Cross Plains Area School District’s student-services team told the school board that their social-emotional learning (SEL) program is showing measurable gains and expanding mental-health capacity across the district.
Student-services director Chris Mann, SEL coordinator Melanie Warhill and members of the SEL team said the district aligned its Cardinal’s Journey framework with CASEL and Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction guidance and now uses a consolidated fidelity tool. That tool, measured for three years, shows the share of fully implemented SEL practices rising while the share of not-implemented practices has fallen, the presenters said.
The team highlighted universal screening results from the SISL screener (grades 3, 7 and 9). About 91% of students self-reported competency or advanced social-emotional skills against the district goal. The district also uses trauma screeners (TSCA in grade 4; REST in grade 6 and 9) and reported roughly 8% of fourth-grade students screened were recommended for follow-up interventions this year, a rate similar to prior years, staff said. Interventions include trauma-focused group programs (Bounce Back), CBITS for secondary students, grief and stress groups, and individual check-ins; staff noted parental consent is required for recommended interventions.
The board heard that suicide risk assessments (SRAs) remain a focus at the high-school level. The team said roughly 3–5% of the cited freshman and sophomore cohorts completed SRA procedures in a recent year (the presentation cited about 633 ninth-graders and 595 tenth-graders in the cohort mentioned). To bolster prevention and follow-up, the district is adding freshman conferences, increasing student-services presence in advisory periods, and coordinating with health teachers to meet the state-required suicide-prevention unit in 10th-grade health classes.
On access to services, staff described an expanded partnership with Children’s Wisconsin that extended school-based therapists to all district schools after a multi-school pilot. Staff reported that 75% of students who used the Children’s Wisconsin service last year did so for the first time, improving timely access and reducing barriers such as transportation and long external wait lists. The district plans to add another therapist next year to further reduce caseloads.
Board members pressed staff on screening choices (why certain grades were selected) and on how flagged students are connected to outside services. Staff said selections were informed by partner recommendations and operational considerations and described referral pathways (school-based services, pediatricians, external agencies) and steps for follow-up.
The presentation concluded with a description of the district’s multi-tiered supports (universal classroom practices, tier‑2 supplemental interventions, and intensive tier‑3 services) and a summary of professional-development topics planned from May data dives, including crisis response, motivational interviewing and supports for multilingual learners.
The district emphasized data-driven planning and said it would continue to monitor outcomes and adjust screening coverage to expand consistent secondary trauma screening.
