In 2016, Las Cumbres developed an innovative program model designed to meet the social/emotional and concrete needs of students in two elementary schools in Northern New Mexico. The schools are made up of students who may be considered high-risk and are often underserved in the region where children are disproportionately exposed to adverse childhood experiences, toxic stress, and significant environmental risk factors as compared to state and national averages.
As of July 1st, 2020, the stewardship of the Nurturing Centers transitioned into the hands of Taos Behavioral Health. Las Cumbres remains committed to supporting the Nurturing Centers into the future as a community partner.
Nurturing Centers, under the umbrella of Las Cumbres, served as hubs, housed within Taos Enos Garcia and Peñasco Elementary schools, and provided a safe, supportive environment and wide range of trauma-informed services to school staff, students and their families.
The Nurturing Centers’ mission was to ensure that families had access to a wide safety-net and would not “fall through the cracks” because of deficiencies within the broader system of care. Nurturing Centers identified the specific needs of families in the community and tailored services to meet these needs. Additionally, when Nurturing Center staff identified significant gaps in services and resources within the community, they become strong advocates and change agents to address those deficiencies. Broadly, Nurturing Centers provided students, families and teachers with a wide-range of trauma-informed services and supports in order to improve school readiness.
Nurturing Centers provided students with the following school-based services:
Social and Emotional Support
Connection to Counseling services and other community services
Activities focused on building positive relationships
Nurturing Centers partnered with Teachers and Administrators and other school Staff in order to:
Identify students and families in need of additional supports and services.
Plan classroom and group activities to improve emotion identification and regulation, understand the impact of trauma on academic achievement, and improve mindfulness and learning readiness.
The work of the Nurturing Centers could not have been accomplished without the support of the Robert T. Keeler Foundation; LANL Foundation; and Taos Community Foundation, including Women Give Taos.