Success Story

Lancaster Independent School District

Located just outside of Dallas, Texas, Lancaster ISD serves about 8,000 students who spent the 2020-21 school year learning in a hybrid model, with some reporting to campus and others learning from home. But throughout the transition to this new learning style and the challenges that come with it, their social emotional learning practices kept students and educators grounded, supported, and connected.

A District-Wide Focus on Proactive Mental Health

In Rolling Hills Engineering Academy, elementary school students navigated new safety procedures on campus and the challenge of feeling connected while joining a classroom community over Zoom. Educators found support in Move This World to help manage this new type of learning environment. Principal Cherish Pipkins shared, “Move This World has given our students a language; it’s even helped our teachers because they’re able to utilize those same strategies to be self-aware, to be mindful of what’s going on in their community with their students or even with other adults. So it’s been very impactful for us.”

Move This World’s MTSS programs allowed teachers to increase their capacity to check on and support students’ social-emotional wellbeing. Interactive, participatory exercises kept students connected through movement, play, and the most critical element: fun.

In the news

KVRR Local News in Fargo, ND, featuring Move This World at Lancaster ISD in Lancaster, TX, in a broadcast segment on December 28, 2021, about innovative schools.

MTSS Programs for PreK-12th Grade

From elementary school through high school, students in the district receive regular, foundational mental health programming. Dr. Tonia Howard, Chief of Leadership Development and Special Programs, reflected on why they initially started to prioritize proactive and preventative mental health throughout the district. “We were really noticing that we had some challenges in the classroom, and we wanted to have some tools that we can utilize. Before the pandemic began, our administrators had already expressed an increased need to support students who were struggling with social and emotional challenges. Move This World has been a great resource for us, and easy to transition to virtual instruction during the pandemic. We allotted funds from our federal grant to support a district-wide implementation plan so that we would have continuity across all grade levels.”

Educators in Lancaster ISD deeply understand the relevance, importance, and transformative potential of social and emotional skill building, and the district-wide commitment to it has made them a leading district. Dr. Howard reflects on this ethos, sharing “[Proactive and preventative mental health] is important to me because it is at the heart of what we do as educators. We are in the people business, so it is essential that we help our students to not just learn academics, but also the skills necessary to be successful in the world.”

Learn more about proactive and preventative mental health at Lancaster ISD:
Focus Daily News Article: Lancaster ISD Successfully Navigates Challenges of the Pandemic
Webinar: Finding Stability Through Change – The Role of SEL in School Communities
MTW Ambassador Spotlight: Cherish Pipkins

Free toolkit download

It takes a village: Systemic Mental Health Implementation

There is no one person or designated class responsible for supporting the social and emotional development of students. All influencers in a school’s community play an important role. Download ready-to-use resources for implementing proactive and preventative mental health at the district, school, classroom, and community level.