Partnering with Administrators and School Boards

The key to building any relationship is finding common ground. Here are some ideas for joint projects that might interest the leaders in your school.

Invite your administrator or school board member to collaborate with you in forming talking points about the school's SBHC with a plan for sharing the information with the community.

Be prepared to guide the conversation with some ideas for consideration.

Here are some suggestions:

• Include a reminder about the resources and services offered through your SBHC at the school's weekly staff meeting or monthly board meeting.
• Post information about the SBHC on the school or district website (hours, services, etc).
• Formulate messages together that the school leader can use when advocating on behalf of the SBHC in the community, in front of the media, or with parents
• Take the time to inquire and learn how to best advocate for your school board and school leadership in return - build mutual understanding

Partner with a school board member to do a school board presentation on SBHC’s. Some examples of presentations you could co-present would be:

• Recent data on SBHCs
• Update on state and federal policy for SBHCs (new legislation, funding, etc.)
• Stories from the field..... bring students and parents to share their personal experiences

Partner on a conference proposal for Confederation of School Administrators or Oregon School Boards Association.
Some conference proposal ideas include:

• New SBHC programs
• Fundraising for SBHCs
• School/SBHC partnerships
• Recent data on SBHCs
• State and federal policy update

Joint Meetings

"The county has created committees for each of the new centers with monthly meetings involving SBHC staff, school staff, counselors, and coordinators of other school programs in an effort to integrate the SBHCs into the school.

The combined meeting allows the school to voice any concerns they may be having with the SBHC during the opening process and vice versa.

Staff issues are being heard and addressed which is helping the relationship between the SBHC and school.

In an effort to ensure good attendance from school and SBHC staff (and the opportunity to build relationships) .............. the SBHCs serve food and coffee and invite as many people as possible from different parts of the school.

In an effort to help with time management, the SBHC administrator asks for on-call administrative help.....”