Wellness and Safety in Our Schools

The Napa Valley Unified School District is committed to ensuring school safety and fostering a safe, secure, and positive learning environment. This is achieved through sound protocols and procedures outlined in our comprehensive school safety plans and our longstanding collaborative partnership with law enforcement, mental health professionals, and other experts in the field of school safety. NVUSD has high expectations for our school community, especially those related to student conduct, responsible behavior, and respect for others. Please take a moment to learn about some of the key initiatives aimed at this vital work.

Comprehensive Safety School Plans

Each school site develops and implements a Comprehensive Safety School Plan (CSSP) on an annual basis, to ensure the safety and security of students, staff, and visitors in all school-related activities and environments. These plans are created in collaboration with safety experts and updated for each academic year.

Emergency Preparedness Week

To ensure each school site is fully versed in the various aspects of their school safety plan, teachers and administrators take part in regular training. School faculty, staff, and students also take part in Emergency Preparedness Week (EPW) each fall. This is a time when school site leaders practice various aspects of their school safety plan and actively participate in drills with faculty, staff, and students. These drills continue to be practiced throughout the year. Aspects of the school safety plan that cannot be practiced during EPW, such as sexual harassment training and mandated reporter training, to name a few, are offered through online courses. 

Community Partnerships and Resources

Collaborative partnerships with law enforcement, mental health advocates and experts, school counselors and social workers, and other safety-related experts are key to ensuring our community is informed of the best practices in school safety. Administrators and other personnel meet regularly with our contacts at the local police departments, fire departments, and public health offices, and with personnel overseeing air quality and wildfire safety. When needed, these groups are also consulted for information and support.

Mental Health and Overall Wellness Resources

Caring for our NVUSD school community’s mental health is equally as important as caring for their physical well-being. Every school site in NVUSD is able to provide mental health and counseling services to students and families through full service wellness centers, counselors, social workers, contracted therapists or via referral to trusted community partners. NVUSD also partners with Care Solace to support our community’s mental health by providing FREE 24/7/365 mental health and substance use disorder care navigation services to all NVUSD families and staff. NVUSD families also have access to support from one of NVUSD’s Wellness Program Community Partners directly or through a warm handoff from one of our trained school site-based specialized student services professionals (counselor, social worker). 

NVUSD Wellness Centers are open to all students and families at American Canyon High School, Napa High School, and Vintage High School as well as American Canyon Middle School, Redwood Middle School, Silverado Middle School, and Unidos Middle School. Wellness Centers serve as crucial one-stop shops where students can check in with staff, connect with community providers and peer support, and receive support with academic, employment, housing, wellness services, and independent living skills. Research shows that wellness services result in greater school and student outcomes, including improved academic performance, increased school engagement, reduction in suspensions and expulsions, decreased referrals to special education, and increased graduation rates. Each Wellness Center is staffed with wellness counselors, school social workers, and a nurse. Our high school Wellness Centers and Silverado Middle School also have Youth Outreach Coordinators who welcome youth to the center and coordinate engaging wellness activities throughout the week. The Napa Valley Unified School District and its partners have a history of investing in wellness resources and counseling through school-site Wellness Centers. We are proud of this and look forward to continuing to find creative ways to ensure our students are cared for and supported. 

Social-Emotional Work - Every Interaction Matters

To support our students on their educational journey we have a multi-faceted approach to social-emotional learning (SEL). Meaningful interactions start with integrated SEL where our teachers use welcoming, inclusion-based activities, brain breaks, and optimistic closure activities to infuse SEL into every day. At the elementary level, the TOOLBOX Project, Second Step, and BEST (Building Effective Schools Together) all support children in understanding and managing their emotional, social, and academic success by uncovering human capacities that reside within all of us. In the middle grades, the Second Step Middle School program provides schools with a common language that helps everyone reinforce social-emotional skills and concepts throughout the school day. 

All school sites participated in a relaunch of Positive Behavior Intervention Support (PBIS). Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is an evidence-based, tiered framework for supporting students’ behavioral, academic, social, emotional, and mental health. When implemented with fidelity, PBIS improves social-emotional competence, academic success, and school climate. It also improves teacher health and well-being. It is a way to create positive, predictable, equitable, and safe learning environments where everyone thrives.

Communication and Alert Systems

Napa Valley Unified School District has many systems in place to aid in communication during an emergency, severe weather event, or natural disaster. If warranted and appropriate, email messages and/or automated text/voice messages and notifications will be sent directly to parent cell phones through the ParentSquare App. 

Thank you for your continued partnership and support.