2022_09_New_Jersey_Monthly

education
small colleges
Continued from page 61
school students over the years. According
to Reina, the district was stunned by the
suicide a few years ago of a senior two weeks
before his graduation. He’d been in the top
three of his class and seemed to have everything
going for him. “He broke all the
stereotypes of what that crisis looks like,”
says Brenda Callaghan, the district supervisor
of special projects.
The tragedy strengthened the district’s
“resolve to reach every kid,” says Reina.
“Nothing is more important than the fact
that every student has two or three adults
they’re comfortable going to,” he says, adding
that it could be about their own struggles or
concerns they have about a fellow student. “If
you do have a student thinking about doing
harm to themselves or others, kids will say
‘I have to go tell Mrs. Smith.’ They know our
teachers are trained,” he says.
Ninth-graders attend suicide-prevention
seminars, and tenth-graders are trained to
provide peer support. “They ask questions,
they persuade their peer to seek help and
also to tell that trusted adult,” Reina says.
In an effort to destigmatize mental illness,
Reina has spoken to students about his issues.
“I’ve stood in front of people and talked about
my struggle with anxiety over the years,” he
says. “If we can get students, when they’re
teenagers, to see the value of being open with
mental health, just as we are with physical
health, maybe it will happen globally.”
Callaghan agrees being proactive is critical
for mental health. She said the district has
done that by making mental wellness part
of the curriculum, incorporating social-emotional
learning tools to help students communicate
and make wise decisions. The district
has broadened the use of therapy dogs in the
schools, which were present sporadically
but can now be brought in by any teacher. A
librarian often brings in a therapy dog, and
twice a week, a science-class teacher walks
one through the building twice a day.
But often, those programs are not enough,
Callaghan admits, and mental health professionals
must step in to provide the level of expertise
only they possess in given situations.
For instance, the district has long partnered
with AtlantiCare Behavioral Health,
which operates a teen center at Oakcrest
High School and several other schools in
South Jersey.
“We have AtlantiCare in each of our
buildings,” Callaghan says. “Intervention can
keep something from turning [into a crisis].
“One of the challenges is, often you have
programs, you can embed them in the curriculum,
but sometimes you need an extra layer.”
The Paterson school district, serving one
of the poorest populations in New Jersey, has
received $9.5 million in federal relief funding
to hire five additional behavioral analysts and
two substance abuse coordinators tasked
with identifying and helping at-risk students,
according to an Associated Press report.
The Maurice River Township School
District is stepping up the mental health
resources available to students. In the new
school year, it is bringing in a full-time childstudy
team, says Cohen. The team will include
a school psychologist, a social worker, a
registered behavior technician and a consultant
for the learning disabled, among others.
“We’re going to have our own people,
in-house, five days a week, eight hours a
day,” Cohen says. “We’re going to be able
to really focus on the mental health needs
of our students.”
Many school districts have adapted their
teaching models—often with government
pandemic-relief funds—to address the disruptions
in learning that occurred during
lockdown.
Bloomfield, for example, formed Backstop,
a program that provides additional
in-class instruction time during the school
year and summer to K-6 students deemed
to have fallen behind during remote learning.
It is funded through 2024.
“As good as our virtual learning was,”
says Reina, “it can never replace classroom
learning. We’re focusing mainly on the areas
of math and language arts —unfortunately
those two suffered during the pandemic.”
Maurice River has expanded its Esports
program, which redirected students who
spent more time on their computers during
lockdown into an activity that put everyone
on a level playing field with athletic youths.
“We took kids who weren’t really social
or who struggled through the pandemic,
and we formed Esports teams,” Cohen says.
“They’re playing competitive games like
soccer on the computer. It’s not just about
playing games. This program was bringing
kids who are severely autistic and can’t
play sports with football stars, and now
they’re playing together. These types of
programs focus on the social-emotional
learning needs of our students.”
Elizabeth Lorente’s work has appeared in
Forbes, the New York Times and AARP.
Continued from page 69
We’re constantly scanning the marketplace
and seeing what employers want,” he says,
noting new graduate programs in data science
and analytics.
COURTING ADULT LEARNERS
In hopes of shoring up enrollments and
meeting student demand, many of the private
schools are adding career-oriented
programs, especially graduate and certificate
programs in business, technology, education
and health care.
The schools are branching into the unexpected.
Centenary has added an online
master’s degree in happiness studies (see
story, page 62), which this fall is expected
to enroll between 50 and 100 students—
mostly adult learners from a range of fields.
Caldwell University has introduced women’s
acrobatics and tumbling as a varsity
sport in the hopes of attracting students
interested in the activity.
With the number of traditional collegeage
students in decline, the schools have
courted adult learners and transfer students.
Natalie Marks Saint-Preux, 31, of Hackensack,
enrolled in Caldwell for a nursing
degree. She chose Caldwell in part because
it was generous with financial aid. She
appreciated the vibe at Caldwell, with its
suburban campus and small enrollment. “I
had relationships with all of my professors,”
said Marks Saint-Preux, who graduated in
May. “They kind of get you and know what
to expect from you.”
Despite challenges, most of the schools
are expected to survive, says Fitzgerald, of
Moody’s. “Overall, these small colleges are
very resilient. They’ve got a lot of stakeholders
who are interested in their success,
including some who may be in state government.
In some cases, these are important
economic drivers in their area.”
Ladd, from the national governing
boards association, agreed. “Experts like
me predicted more closures than have
happened, because these institutions are
tough,” says Ladd, noting the tenacity of
alumni networks. “They believe in their
mission, have a long history, and will work
hard to survive.”
Patricia Alex and Kathleen Lynn are
contributing writers for New Jersey
Monthly, and former reporters and editors
at The Record of Bergen County.
SEPTEMBER 2022 NEW JERSEY MONTHLY 83