Flandreau school psychologist receives state award

Jaclyn Braa’s job is matching student needs with resources in the Flandreau School District.
As the school psychologist, she tests students with learning disabilities, behavioral needs and focusing issues, and she works with counselors, teachers and support staff to provide resources to help those children in class.
Her job performance has led to a state award. Braa, 35, has been named the 2020 South Dakota School Psychologist of the Year by the state Association of School Psychologists. It’s an honor she is quick to share with the school’s four other counselors and behavioral specialist and with the teachers and paraprofessionals who work daily with the students.
“I work with amazing staff that do very well in stressful situations. They’re compassionate and caring, and they care so much for their students,” she said. “Their jobs definitely do not end at 4 o’clock.”
Her co-workers nominated her for the award.

Braa, a graduate of Morningside College and the University of South Dakota, started with the Flandreau district in 2015. She is an employee of Prairie Lakes Co-op in Madison and spends four days each week in Flandreau, a day a week at Colman-Egan and one day a month in Rutland.
Superintendent Rick Weber said Braa works with staff to improve student behavior, something the district has focused on more in the past few years. The school has hired additional school counselors and a behavior specialist as the needs of students have grown. Braa tests several dozen children a year.
“Her personality fits in very well with both young kids and adults,” Weber said.
Braa became interested in becoming a school psychologist because she liked counseling and was intrigued by student intellect and learning styles. The job allows her to work with children and education, something she loves.
She also serves on the executive board for the South Dakota Association of School Psychologists.
She left the district in 2017 for one year, taking a job in the Tea school system, which gave her a shorter commute. Braa lives in Sioux Falls with her husband and two young children.
After a year, she wanted to return to Flandreau, she said.
“I voted for the longer commute because I missed the students and the faculty and the staff I work with,” she said. Flandreau also has great community support and works with the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe. “It’s really been a whole community-wide approach to try and help these children and families with what they need.”