We are excited to highlight our Grant Elementary Counseling Enriched Classroom (CEC) located in San Lorenzo, California, which currently serves students in 3rd through 5th grade.

Seneca Clinician Danielle Taylor provides comprehensive support to both students and families through individual and group counseling, parent counseling, and milieu support. Her groups incorporate age-appropriate play and social-emotional learning, while also creating fun opportunities for students to simply be kids in a safe and supportive space.

This year, Grant’s classroom has benefited from the dedication of three sophomore classroom counselors. Although only in their second year as Mental Health Counselors, Arelí Briseno-Pena, Isabelle Torres, and Whisper Torres have worked collaboratively to restructure and implement classroom behavioral reward systems. These systems support the generalization of social-emotional learning (SEL) skills learned in therapy with Danielle, while also helping students make progress toward their Individualized Education Program (IEP) goals. The counselors have continued to deepen their own practice while supporting students who are transitioning from nonpublic schools or preparing for increased time in the mainstream classroom setting.

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We are also thrilled to share that this year’s Grant classroom teacher is an intern through our partnership with Loyola Marymount University (LMU). Jazmine Alcaraz applied to the LMU teaching program at the end of her first year as a classroom counselor and has done an incredible job navigating the many responsibilities of being a new special education teacher. She brings a fun, positive energy to the classroom while managing instruction, building partnerships with San Lorenzo Unified, navigating new federal and district policies, ensuring documentation compliance, and collaborating closely with school partners and caregivers, all while maintaining Seneca’s values and a strong client-centered lens. (Talk about building the plane while you learn to fly it!)

Watching this team work together to thoughtfully restructure a program that has experienced significant change over the past several years has been truly inspiring. Grant CEC demonstrates the impact of a united team and school community committed to supporting students academically, socially, and emotionally.