2022_09_New_Jersey_Monthly

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 2022-2023 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 2022-2023 academic year, school districts across
New Jersey 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 2022-
2023 school year, parent and student volunteers will post
PHOTOGRAPH: (CHALKBOARD) SHUTTERSTOCK/VOLUROL
SEPTEMBER 2022 NEW JERSEY MONTHLY 59