Norwich City School District STOP School Violence

The Norwich City School District (NCSD) is located in Norwich, New York, in Chenango County, and serves approximately 1,750 students in grades PreK-12.  The proposed project will address a number of risk factors for violence in the schools.  These include violence in the community, low levels of social emotional skills, an insufficient number of providers of mental health services, and a high rate of disciplinary referrals.

The project will consist of two components:

Adaptive seating for children with sensory challenges that can result in disruptive behavior
Contract with Children's Home of Wyoming to provide Behavioral Health Services and support to the establishment of the District’s plan to operate a new and innovative educational program for youth currently educated by the District. By creating a flexible support model, they will give students the best opportunity to gain confidence, acquire new skills, and achieve educational success. By participating more fully in the life and culture of NCSD, these students will develop stronger relationships with caring adults and peers, have a greater sense of belonging to the NCSD community, and have greater incentive to overcome barriers that have inhibited their full engagement in their educational success. Additionally, NCSD will have an option to engage with students and family members, while tailoring educational programs to meet the complex needs of individual students.

As a result of this project, the district expects that the number of students with SEL scores on the BIMAS-2 SEL assessment that are in the Typical or Strength range will increase by at least two percentage points per year, from a baseline to be measured at the beginning of the project year.  In addition, the district expects that the number of disciplinary incidents will be decreased by at least 10% per year, from the baseline of 973 incidents in the 2020-2021 school year.