by Anne Peacock Social Psychology is a discovery course that fosters the development of the teenage mind to arrive at informed decisions about how to understand and take responsibility for their health and behavior. This course covers the following topics for sophomore students: health and wellness, stress, peer pressure, communication skills, eating disorders, interpersonal…
Monthly Archives: January 2016
Questions for Alisa Crovetti, Clinical Supervisor of Piedmont Unified’s Wellness Center
by rbooker •

Alisa Crovetti, Ph.D. organizes and directs counseling and mental health services for Piedmont Unified’s middle and high school students. She is a licensed psychologist and certificated school psychologist. With a doctorate in Educational Psychology from the University of California at Berkeley and extensive clinical experience working with children, adolescents and young adults, Dr. Crovetti worked…
PHS’ Extraordinary Consent Assembly Turns 10
by rbooker •

by Kim Taylor PHS has been ahead of the curve for 10 years. Though Governor Jerry Brown recently signed a bill that requires California high schools to teach the issue of consent, PHS has been presenting its version of consent education in an assembly to the freshmen class since 2005. Directed by PHS Acting…
Introducing the Elementary Social-Emotional Curriculum: Second Step
by rbooker •

“Stop, name your feelings, calm down!” sing the second graders, as they dance to a tune that was designed to teach a valuable lesson while having fun. This is one of many songs in the Second Step curriculum, as students in grades TK-5, learn about the skills for learning, empathy, emotion management, and problem solving…
Panel of PHS Students Discusses Social-Emotional Issues at PMS Diversity Day
by rbooker •
Each year, a panel of six PHS students has visited the PMS Diversity Day to discuss social emotional issues with 8th grade students. The practice began in 2008, when Diversity Day organizers Anne Smith and Kim Lipkin asked Acting Teacher Kim Taylor to bring students there to perform “skits” about diversity. Instead of the skits,…
Camp Everytown Emphasizes and Builds Community Among High School Students
by rbooker •

by Rosie Reid At Camp Everytown, a select group of teachers and PHS students come together for four days at a rustic camp in the Santa Cruz mountains to discuss issues of diversity and privilege. We consider such topics as gender, race, class, family, and disability, all the while reflecting on how we can live…
Safe School Ambassadors and Peer Mediators Offer Leadership Opportunities for Students and Enhance School Social Climate at PMS
by rbooker •
by Kech Carrera Safe School Ambassadors is now in its 4th year at PMS. In our annual 2-day training, this year facilitated by Kech Carera and Michael Friesen, 75 6th, 7th and 8th grade students we trained. At its core, the Safe School Ambassadors program is an “inside-out” approach to improving school climate, one…
Peer Advisors and Youth Educators Offer Mentoring Opportunities and Promote Communication Among Students
by rbooker •
by Amanda Carlson Peer Advisors are a group of seniors and juniors that work with our Social Psychology classes to provide an opportunity for peers to talk to peers about topics that can be covered in the class or other important topics to sophomores. As one would guess, peers enjoy, and often prefer, feeling comfortable…
Piedmont Unified’s Wellness Center Promotes Social-Emotional Health of Middle and High School Students Through Counseling and Other Services
by rbooker •

By Alisa Crovetti, Ph.D. The Piedmont Unified Wellness Center was founded in 2007 in response to findings from a self-study that revealed a need for the district to address social and emotional well-being of our high school students. At its inception, the Wellness Center served mainly high school students, but within a few years, services…
Dr. Denise Pope Returns to Piedmont to Discuss “The Well-Balanced Student”
by rbooker •

PUSD is committed to supporting our students’ social emotional learning and academic engagement. We want our students to feel physically and mentally well, have few academic worries and be productive. To help us meet these goals, we partner with Challenge Success, an organization that provides information and strategies to help students have a more balanced…