Trinity Elementary School fifth grade teacher Marielena Barrett (middle) is joined by school counselor Melissa Hernandez (left) during a Second Step program Friday. Lessons are given to all classes throughout the week on different topics.
Photo credit: Justin Stock

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. – The New Rochelle School District has implemented the pilot stage of Second Step,  a program meant to help students grow academically and behaviorally, both at home and in the classroom.

Trinity Elementary School counselor Melissa Hernandez and fifth grade teacher Marielena Barrett taught the next in a series of lessons this past week about perspective and appropriate ways to behave when in different surroundings.

“I feel the Second Step program strengthens the student’s skills and their ability to manage and deal with their emotions,” said Barrett. “It helps to solve problems in a positive way,” Barrett said. “The students learn a true feeling of empathy and compassion for others,” she said.

The program hit the ground running last month, after funding was received. The New Rochelle School District will apply for an extension to the four-year grant.

The grant has been used in partnership with the New Rochelle Police Department, the Guidance Center, Student Assistance Services, Westchester Jewish Community Services, Southern Westchester BOCES, and the Boys and Girls Club of New Rochelle to improve the conditions for learning that allow children to learn and grow.

The Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative has allowed the district to hire Hernandez to implement Second Step at Trinity School as well as purchasing curriculum materials.

Hernandez, who began at Trinity Nov. 14, has seen great success with the program in the short amount of time it has been around, especially when parents of Trinity students began to notice the results.

“Once the parents saw how the students were learning, they were phenomenal,” said Hernandez.

The district plans to have the program continue into the future. The program is used in 25,000 schools and in 26 countries, serving an estimated 9 million children, according to Allison Wedell Schumacher, public relations and communications manager for the program.

This is New Rochelle's first year in the program.

Fifth grader Dale Gordon is one student who benefitted from Friday's lesson.

"I learned about being respectful to one another," he said.

Other students such as Sinai Lopez learned about aggression and aggressiveness, along with respect.

"Some people are a little aggressive and need to be respectful to each other," said Lopez.

Tionni Jones came away with a lot of new information as well. "It teaches you how to act and communicate and be polite to other people," Jones said.