Wylie ISD Turns to Vector for Back-to-School Safety and Well-Being Programming and State Compliance

The Challenge

Find a uniform district-wide solution to address state requirements. Wylie ISD is an 18,000-student district near Dallas. There are multiple mandates in Texas regarding educating students about topics such as bullying and drug prevention. Historically at Wylie ISD, each building principal would decide how to handle education on these topics by implementing school-wide programs or initiatives. But programs varied from school to school and often the programs were not comprehensive. It was difficult for administrators to keep track of what each school was doing and ensure all schools were meeting the state requirements.

Offer additional resources to support student’s transition back to school. Wylie ISD has several initiatives in place to help students prepare for the start of the school year. It hosts a back-to-school night where students are assigned Chromebooks, have the opportunity to locate their classrooms and get squared away on lunch accounts, and parking passes, and address any issues. District leaders were seeking to supplement these back-to-school activities with additional instruction around student safety and well-being topics in order to better support students during this critical back-to-school timeframe.

The Change

The district is now able to:

• Provide important, relevant instruction that students can take when they start the school year or before the school year begins. Because the Student Safety & Wellness courses are online, students can take the courses during class, or at home. Wylie ISD typically assigns the courses to students to complete before the school year starts. Then during their first few days of school, teachers lead discussions with students about what they learned. The courses are also assigned as part of the enrollment procedure for new students. District leaders appreciate the courses because they:
  • Give all students the opportunity to go into each school year with a strong foundational knowledge base about important safety and wellness topics.
  • Have quizzes at the end of each lesson to measure students’ understanding of the topics.
  • Feature diverse young people to help engage students and make the content more relatable.

• Track school and district compliance in meeting state requirements for education on bullying and other student safety topics. Vector’s system allows administrators to keep track of who has completed the Student Safety & Wellness courses and send reminders and completion updates directly to principals. District leaders also appreciate that the courses are easy to implement and user-friendly. They have received positive feedback from principals about the process.