Across the nation, thousands of schools are implementing the Capturing Kids’ Hearts® Process, which equips people with tools for strengthening relationships, deepening trust, and building self-managing classrooms. As we observe the amazing impact the Capturing Kids’ Hearts (CKH) Process has on all students, let’s take a closer look at Palmdale Discovery Center (PDC) in Palmdale, California. Under the leadership of Colleen Sawyer, this school — which is dedicated to the success of students with special needs — has been implementing the CKH Process since 2017 and has experienced the benefits first-hand.

“We work with students who have moderate to severe Autism, with the majority being nonverbal,” Principal Sawyer said. “Capturing Kids’ Hearts® (CKH) has had such a positive and wonderful impact on our school site.” 

Every staff member at PDC has been trained in the CKH Process. “By doing this, we have an amalgam of professionals working to create a campus culture that supports our wonderful, diverse, and unique population. It takes the entire staff to ensure that CKH strategies are being utilized and become embedded into our program. We find many ways in which we can connect with each other, our students, and families.”  

Principal Sawyer and her team have been intentional about weaving the CKH Process into their school and adapting it to meet the needs of their students.

Meeting & Greeting Students with a Purpose

For example, a key component of the CKH Process is engaging every student at the door with a “hello” and a high-five, a fist bump, or another greeting. Although most of PDC students are nonverbal, teachers have found creative ways to ensure every student can participate and feel welcomed.

“We provide them with visual choice boards to choose the way in which they want to be greeted for the day,” Principal Sawyer said. “We provide our students with a task breakdown on how to greet their peers and how to respond when they are greeted. Our students of all ability levels are able to greet one another by using the tools we have created from the CKH Process.”

Empowering Students to Give & Receive Affirmations

Another important tool in the CKH Process is giving and receiving affirmations. Not only are staff members challenged to affirm their students, but students are also empowered to share encouraging messages with their peers, teachers, and their families. All these efforts help develop a positive school culture. 

“Who is to say that students who don’t verbally speak cannot find personal connections they have with their peers? Our staff has developed varying ways for our students to affirm each other,” Principal Sawyer said. “For our specialized population, we provide accommodations and differentiation to support such skill acquisition. For our more severe students, we have pre-written affirmations or affirmations shown through pictures. We make it an instructional session and model providing affirmations as well as receiving them. We have one entire building comprised of four classrooms which all meet as a whole group to have students affirming one another. It is done with visual supports, verbal output devices, verbally, and hand-over-hand prompting. Our students work on so many vital skills for students with Autism during this time. And every student is provided with opportunities to give and receive positivity!”

The Capturing Kids’ Hearts Process Has Positively Impacted PDC’s School Culture

Principal Sawyer believes PDC has been successful with the CKH Process because of the school’s “all-in approach.”

“Our entire staff here at PDC has attended a Capturing Kids’ Hearts® 1 Training, and a large number of our team has also been trained in a Capturing Kids’ Hearts® 2 Training,” Principal Sawyer said. “At PDC, if we are aimed to meet the needs and support the best interests of our students, then we all need to be trained in CKH. This includes all of our certificated and classified staff. Our site is a student-based community. By embedding the strategies of CKH into our office, classrooms, and playground, our students are given a complete and full opportunity to learn and utilize these skills. It has become naturally embedded in our program.”

Implementing the CKH Process with incredible fidelity, PDC has seen a marked change in its school culture; teachers want to teach and be a part of Palmdale Discovery. As Principal Sawyer says, “Palmdale Discovery Center grows its own.” So much so that 50% of PDC’s teachers started their journey as paraprofessionals and continued their education so they could become certified teachers.

“Capturing Kids’ Hearts has helped us embrace our students and each other,” Principal Sawyer said. “We have brought our level of compassion and dedication to a great new level! There is a special type of kindness that comes with Capturing Kids’ Hearts, and we all thrive as human beings when we can embrace that!”

For the last five years, Palmdale Discovery Center has received a Capturing Kids’ Hearts® National Showcase Schools Award, an exemplary recognition of the school’s excellence and implementation of the CKH Process.