Information for Parents and Guardians
Overview
This article compiles helpful and shareable resources for parents/guardians about the DESSA screeners and assessments, Riverside Insights, and guidance for supporting social and emotional skills at home.
Parent Portal
Our website includes a Parent Portal with background information about the DESSA assessment, along with definitions of the social and emotional skills that the DESSA measures. There are also activities related to each skill designed to be used at home.
Resources
The Downloads section of this article includes some helpful resources:
- Parent letters describing the DESSA assessments
- Frequently asked questions about the DESSA for parents
- Information about supporting social and emotional skills at home (English and Spanish)
Additional resources that may be helpful:
- Guidance on parent consent and editable consent forms can be found in the “Parent Consent Resources” article.
- If a paper copy of the assessment forms needs to be included with the parent letters, those pdfs can be found in the "DESSA Forms for Parents" article.
Downloads
Sample Parent Letter - DESSA (July 2025)
Sample Parent Letter - DESSA SSR (July 2025)
Sample Parent Letter - DESSA SSR and SEIR (July 2025)
Parent Letter - Supporting SEL at Home
Parent Letter - Supporting SEL at Home (Spanish)