Stepping Stones Mental Health Services

Planning Transitions Between Schools

by Susan Mikolic, R.N. A typical child will move among different school buildings as they progress through their school career. Depending on the size and other variables in the school district, the number of moves may vary. A typical progression would be to begin school at an elementary school building, move to a middle school building, and then on to a high school building. In addition, special needs children sometimes require the use of services that are not available in their school building, requiring that the child move to a new school. These moves can happen at natural transition points such as ending the school year at one building and starting in the fall at the new building, or when moving from elementary to middle school or from middle to high school. Transitioning at natural transition points can help ease some of the stress of the move. At times, however, a need to move to another type of service or building may be critical and cannot be delayed until a natural transition point. These urgent moves can be planned to minimize stress in the same way as moves at natural transition points. If a move needs to occur during a school year, it can be helpful to plan the transition at a natural school break point, such as Christmas break or Spring break.

Moving from one school building to another is stressful for anyone. For a child with an emotional disturbance it is essential to reduce this stress by helping the child become familiar with the building, the people, and the processes before their first day of academics at the new building. Here are some ideas for helping to reduce and manage the stress of this new environment.

It is helpful to plan the transition by introducing one new person, place, or concept at a time. The plan below begins by introducing a building, then a designated safe person who meets with the child on the child's current "turf", then a closer look at the building with the safe person, and then finally introducing and integrating the child's schedule with the safe person and the building. This allows the child to assimilate one new situation at a time, hopefully helping them manage the stress about the transition via a building process.

Make sure the child is involved in planning.
To the extent possible and appropriate, have the children tour the schools that are being considered as options. The more the child is empowered to be part of the creation of their new environment, the less stressed they will be about the move. To the extent possible and appropriate, allow the child to be part of the decision-making process in selecting the school. Once a selection has been made, discuss the decision with the child and the reasons for the choice.
Have a staff person from the new building attend the planning meeting.
It is ideal if the person attending this planning meeting will serve as the primary designated safe person for this child.
Identify a person who would be willing and able to serve as a safe person for this child. The primary role of this person would be to problem solve with the child by developing a relationship with the child so that he would feel comfortable turning to this person with his problems. This person would need to be accessible so it is helpful if this person typically spends most days at the school building as opposed to traveling amongst multiple school buildings throughout their typical week. Guidance counselors and school social workers are examples of the types of personnel that could most easily fulfill this role.
It would be ideal if the child were to attend this meeting where he could now be introduced to the safe person. These meetings are typically held at the child's current school placement, which provides a great opportunity for the child. The child is now only introducing one new element….the safe person. They are introduced on his "turf"; the building he knows now like the back of his hand.
At this meeting all aspects of the planning for the new school are discussed: necessary supports, possible curriculum modifications or accommodations, class selection/scheduling, transportation, teacher selection, etc. The child, being a part of the planning team, assists in the creation of their new environment and how it will work.
Meet with the staff person at the building and have them give the child a tour of the building.
The staff person/safe person is now familiar to the child. Now schedule a time for the child and parent to meet with the staff person at the new building and give the child a tour of the building. Direction and cues should be taken from the child as to how much of the building he would like to see. Perhaps he would like to see the entire building so he has a context for the parts of the building he will most often use. Alternatively, perhaps the child would prefer to only see the parts of the building that he would use and then slowly learning the rest of the building after he felt comfortable with the original portion.
It can be helpful to provide the child with a map of the building that he can reference as he tours as a visual aid. Allow plenty of time for questions.
If the transition will take place between school years, this first tour could take place at the end of the school year, or in the early weeks of summer break while school staff are still available. This allows the child to integrate this new information over summer and not be stressed over summer worrying about the new school.
If time has elapsed since the building was toured, tour the building again.
If the transition is taking place between school years, revisit the school prior to the first day of school. The purpose of this tour will be to walk the school to the child's schedule. In advance of the meeting, obtain a copy of the child's schedule. Review the schedule to be sure it is accurate. If a change needs to be made, particularly in the higher grades of school, one change could require an entire reworking of the child's schedule. If the correction is not caught until the first or second day of school, a reworking of the schedule often does not occur until day 3-5 of school. At this point the child is behind the 8-ball. He has learned and become familiar with his schedule, location of his classrooms, has gotten a seat in his classes, begun to make new friends, etc. In addition, the teacher has reviewed what the class will cover and his/her expectations of the students in his/her class. If the schedules changes several days into the school year, the child must get adjusted to a new schedule, find new classrooms, get a seat in a class that has already been formed, meet children who now know each other, and will have missed the review of class expectations. This is a lot of unnecessary stress to place on a child who generally has little reserve energy to offer. It is therefore essential to obtain the child's schedule prior to the first day of school and to review the schedule for accuracy so that any necessary changes can be made prior to the first day of school.
Now, having the child's accurate schedule in hand, walk the building, with the safe person, to the child's schedule. The child's schedule is the only factor now being introduced among other elements which have now become familiar…the safe person and the building.
If the transition is occurring between school years it can be helpful to schedule this late summer tour at the time of the spring tour. Since the few days before school starts are very busy times for school personnel, it is helpful to have this appointment pre-scheduled so that this opportunity isn't missed because of phone-tag delays.
If the transition is occurring within a school year, the first and second visits can be combined.
Build time into the child's day to visit and relationship-build with their primary safe person.
The purpose of identifying a safe person is so that the child has a trusted adult to turn to when experiencing difficulties. The trusting relationship must be nurtured. Children are just like you and I. In times of trouble at work, would you turn to the unknown Human Resources manager or a trusted friend? Children are no different. For a safe person to be a viable strategy, time must be devoted to the building of the trusting relationship.
Set up a system that allows the child free access to his safe person whenever he feels the need. If children need a hall pass, assure the child has been issued a generic hall pass that can be used whenever needed.
Set up regular visitation times with the safe person, once or twice a day, at times the safe person will be assured to be available. Allow the child to bring snacks or familiar items to help him feel comfortable. When the child arrives, allow the child to have a snack and begin by using the time to chit-chat in a non-threatening way with the intent to get to know each other. "What did you do over the weekend?" "Do you have any pets?" "Do you have any brothers/sisters?"
Allow the child to inquire about items in the office….the clown collection, the artwork and other non-personal areas. Let the getting-to-know you be a two way street to the extent appropriate. Incorporate academic inquiries. "How was math class today?" "Is there any way we can help you better?" "Is anything not working for you?"
As the relationship builds, the child will begin to open up more and offer their problems. Often the problems and barriers are simple things that will only require minor tweaking, but if left unaddressed, can become significant stressors and contribute to an exacerbation of their illness.

The time spent on planning and implementing a smooth transition will be time well spent. Once stress mounts and exacerbations occur, the child can lose months of academic time. In this case, an ounce of prevention is truly worth a pound of cure.

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