Help Reduce High School Student Stress

What Can I Do To Reduce Student Stress at Gunn?
You are not alone. Many parents and students are taking action to reduce the cycle of competition, isolation and depression. Join us!
1. Come to the Next We Can Do Better Palo Alto Open Public Meeting, 7:00 PM, Tuesday, May 17, at Cubberly Community Center, Classroom A-6
2. Join our facebook group http://www.facebook.com/groups/wecandobetterpa

3. Send an email to the Board of Ed and Superintendent Skelly and Principal and Site Council of Gunn:
"I support the implementation of a teacher advisory program for Gunn students. Every PAUSD student should have equal access to availability and quality of counseling resources. Adding advisory would address both the guidance and connectedness 2011-12 focused goals. Please act now to implement a teacher-advisory system for Gunn High School."
email to: kskelly@pausd.org. kvillalobos@pausd.org, Site Council : magnons@pacbell.net Linda Ling

Gunn Parents
• 33% were either unsatisfied or very unsatisfied with “counseling services.This number is twice as high as the comparable number from Paly.
• 32% were dissatisfied with availability of academic counseling.
• 14% were dissatisfied with availability of psychological counseling.
• 34% were dissatisfied with quality of academic counseling
• 16% were dissatisfied with quality of psychological counseling.
• 40% feel that their child did not receive “effective college counseling”
Paly Parents
• 16.5% were unsatisfied or very unsatisfied
• 14% were dissatisfied with availability of academic counseling
• 9% were dissatisfied with availability of psychological counseling (compared with 14% at Gunn)
• 19% were dissatisfied with quality of academic counseling
• 10.4 were dissatisfied witih quality of psychological counseliing (compared with 16% at Gunn).
• 19% feel that their child did not receive effective college counseling.
Data from the 2008-09 Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) Accreditation Self-Study Report Surveys 45% of Gunn students state that they do not “know who to talk to to access support services.” (personal counseling, health issues). (question 47, http://gunn3.pausd.org/~info/wasc09/GunnWASC_Chapter1.pdf)
78% of Gunn students state that they would support advisory period (question 56). (http://gunn3.pausd.org/~info/wasc09/GunnWASC_Chapter1.pdf)

Spring 2011

It is now spring, March was very wet. Today is April 1st, the sun is shining, expect temperatures to be in the 80s. Since my last post, life continues with its ups and downs. The pain of grieving is difficult yet necessary. Thank goodness for dear family and friends. I am working with a group of people in Palo Alto called "We Can Do Better Palo Alto - Reducing Student Stress in Palo Alto Schools".

The first organizational meeting is Tuesday, April 19 · 7:00pm - 8:30pm

Location
Cubberly Community Center Classroom A-6
4000 Middlefield Road
Palo Alto, CA

This is the first organizational meeting of We Can Do Better Palo Alto. We are a group of parents, students, former students, and concerned citizens of Palo Alto California working to reduce academic stress in the PAUSD schools.

We are currently working collectively to pressure the Palo Alto Board of Education and the administration of PAUSD to implement Section P-8 of the Project Safety Net suicide prevention plan, which requires the district to "study, discuss, and implement" district-wide strategies to reduce academic stress.

All are welcome to attend the organizational meeting. Agenda items will include introductions, reports on work done so far and on recent meetings with the superintendent and Board of Education members, outreach to potential community partners, and organizing for upcoming efforts and Board of Education meetings.

All who are interested in working on the issue of reducing academic stress and implementing P-8 are welcome to attend and participate. Please join us at this meeting and invite your interested friends and neighbors.

If you have questions, feel free to email Ken and Michele Dauber at kenneth.dauber@gmail.com. We hope to see you there.