On May 20, 2021, Colonial Intermediate Unit 20 premiered the stream of the Excellence in Education Awards & National Merit Scholar Recognition Ceremony, which is held annually to celebrate outstanding educational programs and students throughout the public schools across Colonial Intermediate Unit 20.

This year's virtual ceremony featured pre-recorded video messages from all of the Excellence in Education Award winners and National Merit Scholar students honored this year.

Yajusha Krishna

Samyukta Neeraj

Noah Smith

Christopher Taverner

Kara Nghiem

Darshon McMillion

Megan Conklin

Jaxon Havens

Helen Keetley

Rebecca Dettmar

Karen Defino

Anish Kanduri

Chloe Park

Colonial IU 20 continues its partnership with the CIU 20 Parent Support T.E.A.M. in planning bi-monthly events that invite administrators, teachers, and family members to participate in partnership advocacy activities that focus on communication and understanding. The March 31st session featured information on navigating the chain of command when advocating for a student, and the upcoming June session will involve best practices for supporting student behavior.

On April 22, 2021, the Nonpublic School Services department conducted its annual Parent and Family Engagement Night that showcased reading and math activities via Zoom.

CIU 20 team members led activities that included a fraction based Breakout Edu, a phonemic awareness Scavenger Hunt, Literary Character Guess Who? and a context clue Video Shorts activity."

Colonial Intermediate Unit 20 is committed to creating a welcoming environment for all by celebrating diversity and inclusion in our students, families, and staff.

Colonial IU 20 staff and students participated in 143 Day - a day that falls on the 143rd day of the year and encourages people to spread kindness and positivity in their communities to honor Pennsylvania's favorite neighbor, Mr. Rogers. He regularly used 143 as his special code for "I Love You" - based on the number of letters in each word.

Colonial IU 20 was one of the first IU's to provide mental health services to students since its inception as an educational services provider in 1971. Our mental health programming has grown tremendously and we are currently one of the largest IU providers of mental health services in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

In addition to Mental Health professionals being an integral part of the CIU 20 team that provides supports to students in various programs, we also operate programs licensed by the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services.

Other mental health services provided by Colonial IU 20 include, but aren't limited to: Applied Behavior Analytics, Diagnostics, Early Intensive and Behavioral Intervention, Individual & Group Counseling, Intensive Behavioral Health Services, Intensive In-Home Services, Interagency Collaboration, Partial Interagency, Respite Services, Therapeutic Activities, and a comprehensive Therapeutic Emotional Support Program.

Mary Ann Tarantino has served the CIU 20 Community as a Mental Health Treatment Specialist for 15 years and will retire at the end of this school year. She says the most rewarding part of the job is connecting with youth and families to help them overcome challenges. Her advice to new mental health workers just starting out is "Do not get caught up with what kids present on the outside. On the surface it may seem like they will chew you up, but underneath they are beautiful and gentle." She credits her own self care activities like mindfulness practices, proper rest and nutrition, and daily positive affirmations for helping her maintain her impact as a mental health treatment provider for all these years.

Vicki Rishcoff has served the CIU 20 community as a Mental Health Treatment Specialist for 21 years and will retire at the end of this school year. She has been the Education Association President for 8 years, and prior to that served as the Grievance Chair and Membership Chair. Vicki says that "Mental health is just as important as physical health, for everyone! Focusing on the mental health needs of our clients, families, and staff promotes positive well being for us all (the CIU 20 Community)." When asked for advice to new employees starting out at CIU 20, she says that "The IU has transitioned to a lot of positive changes over the years, and I credit the current IU administrative leadership with making the IU a supportive place to work."

Colonial Intermediate Unit 20's Colonial Academy is evaluating the mental health services it provides for students and families using the School Health Assessment and Performance Evaluation (SHAPE) System. Utilization of the assessments and provider resources within the SHAPE System will allow CIU 20 to identify strengths and weaknesses within our current mental health programming, and ultimately increase the sustainability and viability of the mental health of our students.

This system will further the work of Colonial IU 20's initiative to develop comprehensive and equitable services for all students that we serve. In the last two years, Colonial Academy has grown its Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) framework to assist students with succeeding in their educational, social, and emotional environments. The framework is made up of a layered system that targets students who are struggling academically and behaviorally in school. With the stressors placed on our families with the current COVID-19 pandemic, we have made the commitment to look at mental health services and resources to further guide and support our students and their families as we move forward from the COVID-19 uncertainties.

The School Health Assessment and Performance Evaluation (SHAPE) System is a public-access, web-based platform that offers schools, districts, and states/territories a workspace and targeted resources to support school mental health quality improvement. SHAPE was developed by the National Center for School Mental Health (NCSMH), in partnership with the field, to increase the quality and sustainability of comprehensive school mental health systems.

Follow us on our social media channels to learn more about the resiliency of #AmazingIU20Kids and creative approaches to learning that our #AmazingIU20Staff have implemented!

At Colonial IU 20, we believe in RELATIONSHIPS that support student growth, RESPONSIVENESS to stakeholders crucial needs, RESULTS demonstrated through effective services and programs, and INNOVATION to improve student outcomes.