Columbia Middle School

Columbia's Support Services

Columbia Middle School collaborates within a successful community service model. Located on the school's campus, the Columbia Neighborhood Center (CNC) is a comprehensive, "one-stop" service facility that links students, their families, and other community members with needed resources. The CNC houses a state-of-the-art gymnasium for classes and after-school/evening sports programs, mental health counseling, health clinic, linkage to health insurance for low-income families with children, legal support, ESL classes, job assistance, and more. The CNC serves the entire Columbia community, and its services are free. Most staff are bilingual in Spanish and other languages. The CNC is a partnership between the City of Sunnyvale, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), and the Sunnyvale Elementary School District.

Case Management: In addition to providing a host of resources to support the community, Columbia utilizes a case manager to help link those students who are struggling with services to support them. Students may be having difficulty with schoolwork, home life, friendships, depression, substance abuse, gang activity, or other issues. Using referrals made by concerned teachers, administrators, parents, and students themselves, the case manager works with students to identify the problem(s) and then to link them with services to support them to feel better and be more successful at school. Our case manager also serves as an on-the-spot counselor and advocate for students on campus.

Conflict Mediation: To promote a safe and positive school atmosphere, Columbia encourages students to have a "conflict mediation" in order to help the students communicate and listen to both sides of a challenging situation. When a student is having a problem with others, they fill out a mediation request form. After Ms. Wolfson, the school's case manager, receives the request form she schedules a meeting with each party to understand both sides of the story and then brings the students together to have a discussion. Although resolving the problem is the ultimate goal, frequently simply communicating with another person can help to de-escalate the situation on campus and bring both parties to a common understanding or agreement. Through this process, CMS seeks to encourage the development of positive listening and respectful communication habits.