EDUCATION

New Mexico education department launches social-emotional learning portal

Claudia L Silva
Carlsbad Current-Argus

The New Mexico Public Education Department announced the launch of the New Mexico Cares portal, giving parents, students and educators free access to a tool that helps better understand, teach and support social-emotional learning (SEL).

“The goal is to teach students how to manage their emotions, express empathy for others and develop meaningful relationships as they navigate their school years,” said  Public Education Secretary Designate Kurt Steinhaus. “We all—families and educators—have a responsibility to help kids master those skills. This portal is a great place to find the resources needed to start.”

The site's official kickoff will be Sept. 28, with a webinar aimed at introducing the site to schools and districts across New Mexico. 

The website has videos, posters and activities on topics such as SEL, bullying, substance abuse prevention, suicide prevention, self-awareness, relationship skills and responsible decision making.

The New Mexico Care portal is part of a nationwide effort to improve mental health and address student's social and emotion needs.

In 2020 the CARES Act provided schools with $13.2 billion to address the impacts of COVID-19. These schools are required to use at least 20% of funds on student's social, emotional, and academic needs.

New Mexico schools allocated $1.48 million of the first round of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds to mental health services.

Carlsbad Municipal Schools planned to use $240,000 to provide mental health services for students and staff. These plans include conducting an assessment to look at ways to implement early interventions and treatment.

The portal is located on the PED's Social Emotional Learning Framework site which launched in January.

The framework states "SEL is the process through which all young people and adults acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions and achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions."

The website is available in multiple languages including Spanish, Chinese, Russian, Arabic and Korean.

“The need for social and emotional learning and behavioral health supports in schools is greater than ever. We know how hard everyone is working and all the challenges educators, students, families and communities have faced and are still facing. We are excited to be able to provide this portal and the seven mindsets as free resources to schools to support SEL in their classrooms, buildings and districts,” said Leslie Kelly, the Public Education Department’s behavioral health coordinator.

Claudia Silva is a reporter from the UNM Local Reporting Fellowship. She can be reached at csilva2@currentargus.com, by phone at 575-628-5506 or on Twitter @thewatchpup.