PHOTOGRAPH: (GIRL) iSTOCK/SLAVA OLSHEVSKAYA
More than two years into the pandemic, school life as we knew it has transformed. Students, educators and parents are still experiencing challenges. many districts have embraced innovations in learning and mental health to help. Here, we explore what our Schools are facing in the <strong>2022</strong>-2023 academic year. he student was depressed and wanted to end it all. But in the throes of that darkness, the teen turned to a classmate who urged the student to seek help. Together, they approached a staff member at the Greater Egg Harbor Regional High School District, located in Atlantic County. The employee, working with the district’s mental health specialists, helped the teen get treatment. “Just this year, we’ve had a few students reporting thoughts about self-harm,” says James M. Reina, superintendent of the district, which includes three high schools. “This student had a plan, and had the means, and a reason they were going to take this tragic step. Their peer said, ‘You’ve got to share this.’ We helped the kid get access to an inpatient facility.” It’s all part of a support system that will greet students in the new school year. It revolves around raising awareness among students and staff about mental health and providing guidance and resources to those who need them. Students and teachers will be trained to reach out to others who are struggling. By recognizing that mental health is as important as physical health, it will be destigmatized. “It is part of our training for our staff, and it’s embedded in our curriculum,” Reina says of the focus on mental wellness, which the district began incorporating several years ago and bolstered during the pandemic. In the <strong>2022</strong>-2023 academic year, school districts across <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong> say they will integrate mental health into everything from the curriculum to activities to cafeteria seating, as the number of children—from pre-kindergarten through high school—struggling with anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts has grown from worrisome before the pandemic to what federal officials have now declared a national emergency. While learning loss during the pandemic prompted some districts to hire tutors, offer extra hours of classroom instruction to at-risk kids, and take other steps to help students, the social impact of lockdowns and the disorientation it created has pushed mental wellness to the fore in teaching and extracurricular activities, school officials say. Many districts have implemented state and national initiatives, like Handle With Care, in which law-enforcement officers who respond to a potentially traumatizing situation for a child will alert the school without divulging details about the incident. The idea is that with that knowledge, school staff can then handle the student more mindfully, watching for signs of trauma, providing emotional support, and allowing them more time to complete class work. This school year, numerous districts will employ Social Emotional Learning, which teaches empathy, self-awareness, managing emotions and relationship skills, among other things. The Bloomfield School District has embraced mental wellness as a priority since before the pandemic, when it incorporated Start With Hello, a program created by Sandy Hook Promise, a nonprofit organization founded by families of children who were killed at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut in 2012. Through activities and classroom lessons, the program aims to eliminate social isolation by teaching children to include others and lift spirits through simple acts of kindness. In the <strong>2022</strong>- 2023 school year, parent and student volunteers will post PHOTOGRAPH: (CHALKBOARD) SHUTTERSTOCK/VOLUROL SEPTEMBER <strong>2022</strong> NEW JERSEY MONTHLY 59