S.T.A.R.R.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What does the STARR Project do? What are you responsible for?

The STARR Project is a department of Sumner School District that manages & supports programs, grants and coalitions involving family services, community mobilization, and the prevention/intervention of youth substance abuse and violence. Our goal is to enhance student achievement and promote supportive learning environments within our schools. We believe that by strategically addressing risks to our students’ health and well being, in partnership with our community, we assist youth in meeting academic standards. District policies also outline disciplinary reasons students may be referred to some of the programs listed below.

Specific funding sources managed by the STARR Project include: Title IV – Safe and Drug Free Schools & Communities Act Grant (multi-district cooperative); State Prevention/Intervention Grant*; Department of Health Tobacco Settlement Funding*; OSPI Readiness to Learn Grant*;
Pierce County Youth Violence Prevention Grant*; OSPI Title X Homeless Education Grant; Interlocal Funding Agreements with the Cities of Sumner & Bonney Lake; Sumner Family Center discretionary funding (donations); PRISM Coalition and Truancy Project Funds through TPCHD; Safe Schools/Healthy Students Federal Initiative Grant*; and District funds supporting key STARR Project and Student Assistance Program activities and staff.

* Denotes funding partnerships through Puget Sound Educational Service District (PSESD.)

Q: What kind of services do you offer through our schools to directly assist students? How can I find out more information about these services?

Student Assistance Program (SAP): The STARR Project manages a contract with Horizon Treatment, Inc. for the provision of SAP services in each of our secondary buildings. Sharon Cleary serves SHS and SJH; Rich Palladino serves LJH; and Kelly Ross-Richstein is our new Horizon staff at MVJH. Sharon, Rich & Kelly are state certified chemical dependency counselors. Specific services they provide include consultations with students and staff, youth substance abuse screenings and assessments (with parent permission), individual and group counseling, and classroom presentations. You may reach Horizon staff several ways: through Horizon/private voice mail at (253) 564-3377; email through our District; or through your guidance office. Elementary school staff may access Horizon counselors through their building principal.
Readiness to Learn: Home based support to families with elementary school age students by a ‘Family Support Generalist’ (FSG) is provided through this program. Services are targeted to Liberty Ridge, Daffodil Valley, & Victor Falls Elementaries. Other schools may request services as contract time permits. Our FSG helps families solve problems and connect with community resources. Program outcomes include improved classroom behavior and student engagement in classroom activities. FSG staff are employed by Good Samaritan Behavioral Healthcare. Please contact your principal, psych/counselor or our office for more information about this program. Funding for these services is provided through the OSPI/PSESD Readiness to Learn Grant, Pierce County Youth Violence Prevention Funds, Pierce County Prevention Partnership for Children and Liberty Ridge Elementary I-728 support.
Health Promotion Classes/Programs: Tobacco education and cessation classes are offered periodically through partnerships with the City of Sumner, our local Health Department, Communities for Families and Good Samaritan Community Healthcare. Please contact the STARR Project or Good Samaritan Mobile Health (435-3930) for a current schedule.
PRISM Project: Sumner SD partners with nine other school districts and communities in
this project to reduce and prevent truancy, delinquency, substance abuse and mental health
issues in youth. Our Communities For Families Coalition (see description below) facilitates
the connection of truant and/or at-risk youth with a school/community panel of service
providers. Support to parents and youth are provided through a contract with PAVE of
Pierce County. Case management services are available through Tacoma-Pierce County
Health Department (TPCHD) staff. Limited funds for students are available to alleviate
barriers to school attendance through TPCHD. For further information, contact Jennifer
Ashlock at SJH (5015) or LuAnn Ugas at (253) 891-6535.
Homeless Education Liaison: The Curriculum & Instruction, Special Services (Title I) and STARR Project collaborate to offer special assistance to our families and students qualifying as ‘homeless’ under the McKinney-Vento Act. Our Homeless Education Coordinator (Molly Megerth) is available to work with students, families and staff to alleviate barriers keeping homeless students from immediate access to school and school-linked programs and services. Molly is located at the Sumner Family Support Center. For more information, please call 891-6537.
Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative (Mental Health Counseling): Through the SS/HS grant, Sumner SD receives 29 hours per week of mental health therapist time. Gary McFarlin (Good Samaritan Mental Health) is available to see students and/or their families for 4-6 sessions free of charge. The criteria for this program are that the students be victims, witnesses or perpetrators of violence. Referrals to SS/HS are coordinated through your building Intervention Specialist and Dr. Terry Spencer at SHS.

Q: What kind of materials and programs are available through STARR Project and the District to help me address substance abuse and violence prevention in my classroom?

Here’s Looking At You (3rd Edition): HLAY kits for grades K – 6 may be reserved through the STARR Project office. Kits can be checked out for a month and are delivered to your building via our district courier. Our HLAY curriculum is used to address essential learnings in Health and Fitness. Curriculum training is offered periodically through the STARR Project and Puget Sound ESD. LJH integrates HLAY into their 8th grade Health curriculum. Please email Della Boyer to schedule your curriculum materials!
Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE): Maple Lawn and Daffodil Valley Elementary school 5th grade students participate in the Sumner Police Department’s DARE Program. Recent survey outcomes show a reduction in substance abuse experimentation in program participants. To find out more about the DARE program, please contact the STARR Project office or Sumner Police Department at 863-6384.
Project ALERT: Junior High Guidance Counselors at SJH and MVJH are using this ‘best practice’ curriculum with 8th and 9th grade students. Please contact your guidance counselors or Health teachers for more information. Training in this program is offered periodically through Project ALERT or Puget Sound ESD.
Get Real About Violence: This violence prevention curriculum is being used by our junior high schools. Lessons give students the skills to identify various forms of violence, to understand their role in violence prevention and to establish healthy beliefs and norms in peer groups about reporting violent behavior. Use of the program differs by building: please contact your guidance counselors for more information.
Second Step Violence Prevention Curriculum: Second Step is in place at various grade levels in our elementary schools. Psych/counselors across the District have used these materials with many classrooms at the K/1st Grade levels. Reported outcomes reflecting an increase in students’ abilities to resolve conflict and problem solve as a result of Second Step instruction have been reported. Please contact your building’s psych/counselor or our office for more information about this program.
Tobacco Use Prevention Education: Through the use of Tobacco Settlement funding, the STARR Project is able to offer 5th and 6th grade teachers the opportunity to schedule special presentations in this area for their students. We have two programs available: Sharon Cleary from Horizon will present tobacco related lessons from the Here’s Looking At You curriculum (2-3 sessions); - OR – a presentation on the medical/health impact of tobacco use is available through Good Samaritan Mobile Health Services. Please contact the STARR Project directly at ext. 6066 to schedule either program.
Miscellaneous Materials: Our office also has a variety of brochures and videotapes appropriate for use in the classroom. We work with a variety of organizations that can provide free materials. New purchases include instructional materials on the impact of tobacco use. Please contact us for more information.

Q: Are you involved with school security programs? School Resource Officer services? Crisis management programs?

Campus Safety Officers: The STARR Project coordinates monthly meetings of our District’s Campus Safety Officers, School Resource Officers and other community partners (juvenile probation, law enforcement, etc.) involved with school safety efforts. Three ‘CSO’ staff serve SHS and each of our junior high schools have two CSO positions. Safe and Drug Free Schools and Safe Schools/Healthy Students grant dollars provide training support for CSO staff. CSOs are available to come to elementary schools by special arrangement. For more information, contact the STARR Project office or your building administrator.
School Resource Officers: Two uniformed officers from the Sumner and Bonney Lake police departments work in schools within their jurisdictions. We do not have a designated SRO from the Pierce Co. Sheriff’s Department at this time, as a result of our state security grant funding reduction. As of August 2003, the SRO positions were being reassigned by our local police chiefs. For more information, please contact the STARR Project office.
Crisis Management/Emergency Preparedness: For more information about these building and District programs, please contact your principal or Cindy Acosta (Risk Manager) at ext. 6019. STARR Project has worked in this area to assist in training and obtaining grant funds to support team planning. Funding for certificated staff training time is available through the Safe Schools/Healthy Students grant that is managed by the STARR Project.
Safe and Civil Schools Project: The STARR Project is the coordinating department for buildings’ involvement with this building-wide school climate improvement initiative. For the 2003-04 school year, SHS, SJH, MVJH, LJH and DVE will be receiving training in building-wide student management models, based on the work of Randy Sprick. For more information, please contact either the STARR Project or building principals at these sites.
Other Related Programs: STARR Project assists in CSO and staff training in school safety related topics. Our office is responsible for the annual District ‘Weapons/Incidents In Schools’ report, as well as new reports which will arise from recently passed legislation on bullying/harassment and school safety funding allocations.

Q: What community programs do you work with that help students and their families?

Sumner Family Center (SFC) : Located at the Daffodil Valley Campus (1503 Valley Ave., Sumner), this collaborative program houses personnel from seven agencies. The primary objective of the SFC is to offer families support and resources around a variety of issues and needs, from basic resources to assistance with parenting and child development. SFC brochures and a complete listing of current programs and classes are available by calling LuAnn Ugas, Coordinator, at ext. 6535. You may also reach Readiness to Learn and Homeless Services program staff at this location.
Communities For Families (CFF): The STARR Project office staff serve as facilitators and coordinators for this coalition. CFF meets the first Thursday of each month at our District’s Central Office Board Room, from 3:15 – 5:00 p.m. Coalition goals include identifying strengths and needs of our communities in regards to health and human service issues; creating opportunities for communication and collaboration among service providers; and offering support to programs which assist families. Annual events sponsored by the coalition include school based youth forums & a community summit. CFF also supports action teams working with tobacco use reduction, truancy & youth risk issues in our community. For more information, please call the STARR Project office. We can add you to our email list if you wish to receive meeting minutes or announcements. This coalition is a great way to link students with community service opportunities, as well as community resources!

Q: What is the ‘East Pierce County Safe and Drug Free Schools Cooperative’? What do they do? (Staff Development and Parenting Program Opportunities)

The STARR Project is the manager of this five-district consortium. We administer the ‘Safe and Drug Free Schools’ grant (Title IV) for Puyallup, Fife, Orting, Eatonville and Sumner School Districts – with representatives from each grant partner. The Cooperative offers various staff development opportunities each year – from prevention curriculum and child abuse prevention classes, to sessions on personal wellness, youth developmental assets and other school safety topics. We also work with local family support centers, 21st Century Grant sites (Eatonville and Fife) and schools to support parenting education efforts.

Q: What kind of peer-to-peer education and support programs are available to students in Sumner SD schools?

Natural Helpers: Our three junior high schools have active Natural Helpers programs in place. Twenty students from each school are trained in peer helping skills at an annual retreat. These students meet regularly with their staff advisors throughout the year to discuss issues that other students bring to them. Some students are also used in welcoming new students to their buildings. For more information, please contact JoAnn Stansell (SJH), Jerry Turner (MVJH) or Mike Atkinson/Rina York at LJH. Support for the Natural Helpers program comes from our Safe and Drug Free Schools Grant and building based funds.
Peer Mediation: SHS and LJH have active teams of students who have been trained in the Conflict Resolution Unlimited (CRU) ‘Peer Mediation’ model. When disagreements occur, school administrators, counselors or campus safety officers work with trained mediators and students who are in conflict to resolve issues. Please contact your building principal or guidance counseling office for more information.
Spart Crew: The goal of this program is to link incoming sophomores with selected returning students for mentoring and assistance in transitioning to a high school environment. Safe & Drug Free Schools funds help to support Sumner High School efforts to address new students’ needs and concerns – while having fun! Please contact Cassie Meath (VP – SHS) or Jess Nelson (Advisor) for more information.

Q: Other Services & Supports Offered?
Parent Involvement Coordinators & Activities: Each junior high school (SJH, MVJH &
LJH) will have ‘Parent Involvement Coordinators’ and activities funded through the
Safe Schools/Healthy Students Grant Initiative. These ‘Coordinators’ will be responsible for increasing parent involvement in their schools as a strategy to prevent youth involvement with tobacco, alcohol and other drugs. Currently, Merry Pantaleo serves as the MVJH Coordinator. Please contact the STARR Project for more information about this facet of the SS/HS program in our District.