Student Support Staff

School psychologists work with a team of people to help students succeed academically, socially, and emotionally. School psychologists are trained in both education and mental health to know how to identify and lower barriers to learning.

For more information about school psychology, visit the National Association of School Psychologists website.

Resources for families are also available through the National Association of School Psychologists.

TL Mental Health Supports

The social worker takes on many roles at Thomas Lake Elementary. They provide educational support groups, track student attendance and provide resource information for students and families in crisis.

The social worker provides supportive services to the students through group and individual work. Groups are designed to build self-esteem, while offering students opportunities to learn life skills such as, problem-solving, making appropriate choices and conflict resolution.

Students requiring individual attention may meet with the social worker for a few sessions to several weeks, depending on student need. Contact the school, if you are interested in having your child participate in a group or work with the social worker individually.

The social worker notifies the parents/guardians of their child’s attendance records. Regular school attendance is important for student’s educational and social development.

The social work position offers services to families dealing with transition or crisis. The social worker may assist families needing informational materials, strategies for school performance or to locate community resources.

TL Mental Health Supports

Speech teachers provide services to students who have significant needs in the area of communication. Communication disorders encompass:

• Articulation Disorders: difficulty producing speech sounds
• Language Disorders: difficulty with understanding and expressing thoughts and ideas.
• Voice Disorders: having an inappropriate pitch/quality of voice
• Fluency Disorders or Stuttering: Inappropriate repetitions of sounds, words or phrases

Gifted and talented children are those students with outstanding abilities and capable of higher performance when compared to others of similar age, experience and environment. They have significantly different educational needs from their peers and require educational differentiation as a regular part of their school day to ensure they reach their full potential. These services are available at all elementary and middle schools. 

District 196 uses multiple criteria to help identify gifted and talented children. 

For more information, see policy 610 under Board Policy.

For more information, checkout the District 196 GTD webpage.

Healthy students are successful students

Our school staff provide a variety of services that support a healthy learning community. We are committed to providing students with health conditions access to their education by facilitating their independence and creating a community of support by working collaboratively with the student, their family and district staff. School nurses promote optimal student health for optimal learning. 

ESTABLISH HEALTHY HABITS EARLY TO ENSURE YOUR CHILD’S SUCCESS

Instilling healthy habits and routines (adequate sleep/nutrition) and consistent attendance ensures a student’s success in school even as early as kindergarten. We know that too many absences/tardies, for whatever reason, can cause children to fall behind both academically and socially.

To help ensure healthy habits consult with your health care provider regarding well-visits and immunizations, as well as maintain good hygiene. Also:

• Get the appropriate vaccines.
• Wash your hands frequently.
• Practice physical distancing from members outside your household, when appropriate (staying more than 6 feet apart).
• Stay home if you are sick (so you do not spread the illness to other people).
• Use a tissue, or cough and sneeze into your arm, not your hand and turn away from other people.
• Use single-use tissues. Dispose of the tissue immediately.
• Wash your hands after coughing, sneezing or using tissues.
• If working with children, have them play with hard surface toys that can be easily cleaned and disinfected.
• Do not touch your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands (viruses can enter your body from unwashed hands).
• Do not share cups, glasses, dishes, cutlery, cigarettes or cellphones.
• When recommended by public health authorities, wear a non-medical mask when in a public space and physical distancing cannot be maintained.

The school district will follow the guidelines from the Minnesota Department of Health for recommended exclusion and notification for vaccine-preventable diseases including coronivirus, mumps, measles, rubella, pertussis, diphtheria, viral hepatitis, chickenpox and meningitis. Families will not be notified and students are not excluded for lice, pink eye or strep throat.

COMMUNITY CLINICS

We are fortunate to have two community health clinics in Dakota County to support children and families who are in need of minor and routine health care services. Please see the links below if you are looking for routine physicals, sports or camp physicals, initial mental health screenings, and other basic health care needs. All families welcome regardless of insurance status.

• Diamondhead Clinic (Eagan, Burnsville and Savage)
• Dakota Child and Family Clinic (Dakota County)