PSST!

From cartoon balloons in classic comics, to today’s internet slang, “PSST!” means “I’ve got a secret to tell you.” Here’s a secret that needs telling: Starting in 2009, Public School Success Team, a local volunteer organization, has worked with the Healdsburg Unified School District to make constructive connections with public school kids. Connecting with people who care about the their success — and can help them to succeed — is a powerful motivator for students. Our tutoring, mentoring and coaching programs supplement their connections at home, church and school.
It’s an antidote to the destructive connections kids face every day.
Five years ago, Jeff Harding was a new School Superintendent. PSST! was new, too. They met to explore ways to use community resources to complement what his staff and administration do to keep our students on the path to graduation. PSST! had organized a network of volunteers to deliver programs that fit HUSD. It started with a fifth grade pilot program, and we have been connecting with kids ever since.
This year PSST! greets its fifth group of fifth graders. Our tutoring program focuses on math, reading and writing in grades five through eight. Academic coaches for our ’09 pilot class of ninth-grade students help with their transition into high school. An innovative five-credit elective class brings Healdsburg High students to Fitch Mountain Elementary to work with children in every classroom. These teenagers also participate in a weekly seminar and tutor fifth graders after school on Wednesdays, quickly becoming friends and role models as well as tutors.
Our work with eighth graders tutoring sixth graders is paying big dividends in its second year. Tutoring every Tuesday at the Junior High is broader and deeper than ever: 36 volunteer tutors and mentors work in every grade, connecting with 70 kids.
At a recent family night, a mother told of her new fifth grader three years ago, dreading school and hating math. She said her prayers were answered when they joined PSST!. Today they are justly proud of their progress, “getting” math and getting along better at home. They both feel good about a confident eighth grader ready for success at school.
“Doing good and feeling good.” Tutoring, mentoring and coaching can be like that. Sometimes making a constructive connection takes patient persistence. It isn’t always easy, but successes with the kids sustain our commitment. We rely on a network of community partners to fulfill our mission. If you would like to learn how you can help us to help our kids and our community, please let us know.
To connect with PSST! call 707-494-4968 or email us at

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Joe Norton lives in Healdsburg and is Board Chair of PSST!