When people think about psychology, a K-12 school probably doesn’t immediately come to mind, but every school in Ohio is required to have a school psychologist. Many schools, including Van Buren in the past, contract with educational service centers to meet this requirement; however, we determined, because there is no additional cost to our district, it is beneficial to employ our own psychologist and hired Mr. Ryan Borger at the March 20, 2025, Board of Education meeting.
As you might have seen in last month’s Knight Insight introducing new staff members, Borger joined our district with experience at Toledo Public Schools and Springfield Local School District. After spending time in those larger districts, his choice to come to Van Buren wasn’t one he took lightly. “I’ve always been drawn to rural schools, but the reason why I wanted to be at VB is because I want the sense of community. In a larger district, it is all about numbers, but here we know students on an individual level. The students are a piece of my life, and that’s not what I experienced previously,” he said.
While our district fits into what Borger was looking for in a district, what is most significant is what our district gains from having an in-house psychologist. When we previously shared a psychologist through an outside entity, we only had the services of the psychologist for 2.5 days per week. Now, since Borger is our employee, teachers and administrators have access to his expertise every day, and he can focus on serving our students daily throughout the entire intervention process.
The choice to put Borger’s office in the elementary school was strategic because early identification of students who need intensive support (Tier 3 in the Multi-Tiered System of Support - click here to learn more about MTSS) is important so intervention can begin as early as possible. While he does spend a majority of his time working with elementary students to catch student needs early, he also works with students of all ages and grades to assess cognitive abilities, academic skills, and behavior.
Because of his training as a psychologist, Borger can use his knowledge of student growth rates to administer assessments that will provide the necessary information to allow him to recommend the supports which will be most helpful to students. The knowledge we gain from those assessments is then put into practice when meeting with teachers, reading specialists, parents, and others during MTSS meetings. Those meetings focus on monitoring the growth of Tier 3 students to ensure appropriate levels of support are provided, and Borger’s knowledge of the students because of his consistent interaction with them is invaluable.
The opportunity to focus solely on our students allows him to go beyond simply assessing the students and participating in an Evaluation Team Reports (ETR) meeting. Borger is also able to work with teachers to monitor students and participate in behavior team meetings so he can be part of identifying potential problems before they grow into concerns. Because he is here all day every day, he can go into classrooms to observe students and listen to concerns from all involved parties (students, teachers, parents).
If parents have concerns about the academic growth of their students, they can reach out to their students’ teachers since they are also part of the student support team (SST). Those teachers can then connect with the SST to determine appropriate next steps to ensure optimal student growth.
Mrs. Bridgett Bunn, Director of Student Services, appreciates the value Borger brings to our district. She said, “A school psychologist in our buildings five days a week enhances the quality of services we provide, improves collaboration with teachers and families, and ensures timely, consistent support for students. This is a meaningful commitment to the well-being and success of all of our students.”
In the end, our district can more effectively serve our students because we have Mr. Borger here every day to support their success.
Check out these opportunities to learn what is happening at Van Buren Local School District:
New Staff Bringing New Ideas, Experience to Our Van Buren Team