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Superintendent Armand Pires and Director of Wellness Dr. Ryan Sherman have announced that Medway Public Schools has been selected to participate in a Mental Wellness Collaborative that aims to support the mental wellness of students across the country.
The initiative was launched by the AASA, The School Superintendents Association with the consideration that young people have experienced more than three years of pandemic-affected educational opportunities in addition to severe economic challenges, fear and depression, and grief and loss. This is the second year of the Collaborative's work.
Through the virtual Collaborative, the four selected districts will share best practices in mental wellness, positive youth development, avoiding/preventing risky behaviors and practices, and raising awareness of nicotine-derived products for school staff and students.
Ultimately, the Collaborative is meant to help identify various best practices and strategies, which will be shared with AASA's members to support, bolster and develop mental wellness for students and the adults that serve them.
To kick off the work, Superintendent Pires and Dr. Sherman will participate in a one-day in-person meeting with representatives from the other three participating districts this month. AASA will also complete a site visit to Medway, expected in March, to hold focus groups with middle and high school students to understand more about their lived experiences with mental wellness.
"Our district's selection for this Collaborative is a testament to the work of our staff over the past few years to comprehensively address mental health needs among our students, which has positioned us as a leader in this work," Superintendent Pires said. "We look forward to sharing our efforts and how similar programs and initiatives may be able to help other students across the country."
To address the mental wellness needs of students, Medway Schools has implemented the traditional three-tiered multi-systems support approach to integrate social and emotional learning, with an added fourth tier of support. The tier-4 program includes outpatient care coordination, school-based outpatient therapy, telehealth mental health services and wrap-around mental health services. The fourth tier has helped to increase student access to mental health services, decrease wait times and reduce the amount of time school counselors, adjustment counselors and social workers spend coordinating outpatient services. To read more about the district's work, click here.
The three other districts chosen as part of this year’s Community of Practice are Olentangy School District (OH), Windber Public Schools (PA), and Ann Arbor Public Schools (MI).
[Ed. Note:AASA was founded as the American Association of School Administrators but is now properly referred to as an unpronounceable "all caps" word, "AASA". ]
