Page 32 - MMP-N-NJ CCN 21st Century School Nurse Leadership Book

Steps to Gaining Buy-in and Leading Change and Transformation (Kotter, 2007).
See Making Change Happen (p.7):

1. Establish sense of urgency.

• Motivating statement (often communicated to key school administrative decision maker(s)):

Dear Mr./Ms. Administrator,

There is compelling evidence that there is a connection between missing
school and health. I know that this represents a lost learning opportunity for
our students when they are not in the classroom. There is a growing body of
evidence that schools are becoming the primary site for identification, referral
and intervention for students with mental health issues (Selekman, Diefenbeck,
& Guthrie, 2013). Research supports the evidence that school mental health
programs can improve student educational outcomes (U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services, 2005). Did you know that suicide is the third
leading cause of death among New Jersey teens (New Jersey Department of
Health, 2015)?

I am interested in putting together a team from our school and district that
has the goal of creating a safe space or classroom where students can receive
screening for mental health concerns and are provided with age-appropriate
interventions for the school setting to get them re-focused and back to
class. Right here in New Jersey, in the Camden School District, they have
implemented a calming room (Romalino, 2017, August 31). The school district
reports that the room has successfully reduced suspensions and disciplinary
issues, improving uninterrupted instructional time in the classrooms. The
calming classroom may also benefit our state initiative of improving student
attendance as well.

As our school health leader, I am interested in a holistic approach to helping
our district support students with mental health concerns. I have already
identified several stakeholders and partners; can I count you as a supporter of
this initiative?

• Examine the literature and community assessment: In addition, the following areas related to this
are:

School Community Health Problem/Needs Assessment:
• Obtain district and school-based absenteeism data, suspension data, disciplinary
data to use as benchmark.
• Obtain county and community local health assessment data at New Jersey State
Health Assessment Data (https://www26.state.nj.us/doh-shad/home/Welcome.
html)
• Identify available resources that may already have templates, guides, and resources.
Ideas for Creating a Sensory or Calming Room
(http://www sensoryconnectionprogram.com/sensory_room3.pdf )

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