{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Autonome","title":"Strong Enough to Be Flexible: Andrew Morton’s Approach to Student Success and MTSS","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":1808,"description":"\nIn this episode of Autonome, host Fran Kenton, Founder and Creator of Autonome, sits down with Andrew Morton, MTSS Behavior Coordinator and Director of Student Services at Mount Vernon R-V School District in Missouri. Andrew shares a powerful leadership journey that began with being a disengaged student, detoured through a career in golf, and ultimately led to special education after a life-altering health challenge reshaped his path.\n\nFran and Andrew explore what it takes to build behavior and support systems that actually work in real classrooms. Andrew reflects on the mentors who saw his gifts before he did, the resilience he learned while caring for a parent with a progressive illness, and how those experiences shaped his compassion, patience, and insistence on accountability. He introduces his “come alongside” leadership philosophy, supporting educators through clarity, consistency, and practical systems rather than mandates.\n\nThe conversation also dives into the districtwide impact of Andrew’s Restorative Reset Method, including a 42 percent reduction in office referrals across eight buildings in a previous role, and how he is now strengthening MTSS and special education processes in a smaller district by building teams, routines, and clear pathways of support.\n\nKey Moments\n\n\n04:21 \"Discovering a Calling in Special Ed\"\n\n09:36 \"Lessons in Flexibility from Family\"\n\n11:50 Supportive Principal Shaped My Journey\n\n16:09 \"Supporting Teachers, Supporting Students\"\n\n18:55 \"Strong Enough to Be Flexible\"\n\n23:40 Weekly Support Meetings for Teachers\n\n27:13 \"Improving Classroom Placement Systems\"\n\n28:20 \"Restorative Reset Method Manual\"\n\nWhy You’ll Love This Episode\n\n\nThis episode offers a practical and grounded look at how behavior systems and MTSS can support both students and staff without burning educators out. Andrew shares clear, real-world examples of what consistency looks like, where flexibility matters most, and how leaders can create environments where...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/seTJ6nScwCspveU8Z82YbH5eLfeDGipVEqgHAPCWjo0/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS8wMzBl/YTQ4NzQyYmUzYWIy/MDM2ODk4YmQ5N2Yz/NmU1Mi5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}