The Student Center is located in Room 141. There, you can find Ms. Luz, Ms. Alex and Ms. Anissa who are a part of the Center for Supportive Schools (CSS) program. This program helps schools become a place where students want to be by helping to build a community amongst the students.
The Student Center is where students from all grades are welcomed during their lunch period. There are multiple activities students can do, such as playing board games and relaxing with their friends. This is an important resource, as many students want a place to go to just hang out and talk, free from the hectic cafeteria atmosphere.
Camila, an 11th grader who goes to the student center everyday during her lunch, describes it as a place where she is “able to focus on her thoughts and hang out with her friends and play games with them.”
The CSS program helps schools identify and put into place both whole-school and targeted interventions that provide an integrated focus on academic, social and emotional learning, so that every student and family has strong relationships with the school and an individualized pathway to success.
Luz Cepeda is the Community School Director here at FHS. Her responsibilities include the day-to-day management and implementation of the community school strategy, in collaboration with school leadership and community partners.
Anissa Diaz and Alex Romely are Student & Family Engagement Coordinators for CSS. They are responsible for the day-to-day management of the community school’s student and family engagement strategy. They work to cultivate and preserve relationships with school administration, faculty, staff, and students.
The student center and CSS program in our school offer different resources, available for every student based on their needs. They also host a series of events throughout the school year, both for educational purposes and entertainment. These events let students know what the school has to offer.
Ms. Anissa mentioned that it is important for students to attend the various events they host if they “want extra resources or to simply just have fun.”
The CSS program is hoping to be the bridge that provides the tools to help students succeed. An example of this would be Peer Group Connection (PGC). According to Ms. Alex, PGC is “a program implemented in our school that helps and facilitates the change for kids from middle to high school.” To add on, Ms. Anissa mentioned that “with the help of this program, entering ninth graders can find a supportive environment thanks to the influence of older pupils.”
PGC helps students develop life skills outside of academics. Students can use these skills, like public speaking and learning to understand emotions, in a way that makes them successful in the future.
Building a community is an important goal of both Ms. Alex and Ms. Anissa along with the entire CSS program. Furthermore, to Ms. Alex this program is crucial because “when looking to make improvements, it is important to find ways to make improvements as a whole community and get a community perspective as it is more effective and efficient.” Similarly, Ms. Anissa believes that “moving as a big community has a bigger impact than not doing things as a community.”
The Student Center is located in Room 141 and is open during lunch periods. Stop by and be a part of the community!
