The overarching goal of BDEA’s student support team is to provide each of our students with the counseling and the supports that contribute to building and maintaining relationships that foster trust. This process does not happen in a particular program, but during every minute of every day at the school.

The student-centered, trauma-sensitive culture and climate at BDEA has for 25 years remained central to all decision-making around programming, school culture and climate. Our competency based teaching and assessment is the first pillar of our work with young adults, making learning engaging, measurement metrics transparent, and success the standard rather than the exception. The second pillar is that of a respectful culture and climate that supports students in the discovery and celebration of their authentic selves. All student supports and ongoing initiatives are founded on one or both of these pillars, and include but are not limited to the following:

All students at BDEA benefit from the supports offered by our 15-member Student Support team, which provide students and families with everything from assessments of need and connection to services, to in-depth restorative justice practice around conflict. The team is effective because they know our students and their concerns, and provide appropriate and successful interventions and connections. The team is incorporated by a Nurse, Social Worker, Registrar, Clinical Coordinator and Coordinator of Special Education.

Amplifying voice – Our students have a lot to say on an endless variety of topics. We partner with Actors’ Shakespeare Project and other local organizations who coach our students to tap their passion for expression, hone their words, and craft their message. Performances occur monthly at Haley House Bakery and Café and during Project Month in December, as well as during interest-based advisory and in class. BDEA students are tapped to speak at local and national education reform conferences, and to be ambassadors for students like themselves in the broader work of racial and economic justice.

Service also include:

  • Individual and Group Counseling

  • Crisis Intervention

  • Mediation

  • Increasing Positive Communication

  • Advocacy

  • Case management

  • Assessment of Student Needs and Referral for Services

  • Home Visits

  • Court Advocacy

  • Health, Education, and Academic Consultation for Special Education Services