School social workers are student-focused
Every day, Arlington ISD students walk through the doors of their schools carrying more than just backpacks. Some carry the weight of family struggles, anxiety, housing insecurity or challenges that make focusing on schoolwork feel impossible.
But standing beside them — ready to support, encourage and guide — are Arlington ISD’s dedicated school social workers.
In honor of School Social Work Week, Arlington ISD is shining a well-deserved spotlight on its Student Outreach Services (SOS) department. These professionals devote their days to ensuring students have the resources and support they need to thrive. This year’s theme, “Unite to Ignite,” perfectly captures the heart of their work — bringing together students, families and communities to spark positive change and create a brighter future.
“We’re extremely student-focused,” said Arlington ISD student outreach ervices coordinator Vicki Warren. “Everything we do is towards the students, whether it’s graduation, behavior or academics, we really try to keep our focus on those things so that our students can grow. We want to ignite those things.”
The student outreach services team works to remove barriers to success, providing critical support for students’ social-emotional well-being and academic achievement. The department assists students and their families with essential needs such as medical expense assistance, shelter, food and clothing. Additionally, SOS offers case management services to ensure that every child’s unique challenges are acknowledged and addressed.
“The unification of who we are as a department is important for us to be an extension of who we are, an extension of each other so that there’s really not a lot of things that fall through the cracks,” said intervention specialist Dianna Flores.
Venture High School social worker Victor Perales shares that same commitment.
“We’re all focused on the same goal,” he said. “We want to support students, help them achieve their personal best and help them work towards graduation, post-secondary education and beyond.”
While their efforts may not always be visible, the impact is undeniable — students who feel seen, supported and empowered to make positive changes, no matter how big or small. That’s what makes the work so rewarding.
“Student success can look a lot of different ways,” Flores said. “Working in the environment that I work in and working alongside the students who don’t have a lot of people who are choosing to invest in them, some of the most rewarding things are the small successes that are a big deal to my students.”
Warren agreed.
“That’s true across our district,” she said. “It really is the little wins. When students experience the little successes, they have the opportunity to continue to build upon the larger successes. We want them to learn new skills that they can utilize not only at school but within life.”
And that’s exactly what all 26 members of the student sutreach services team help our students do.
“Big shoutout to all of our teams,” Perales said. “Our members are always working hard. We appreciate everything they do!”