Lisa Murphy-Church 
If children and teenagers already had well-developed skills in self-regulation, in interpersonal effectiveness, and in decision-making, there would be little need for schools and educators. While the delivery of academic content is critical, of course, it is lessons about how to be a healthy human living productively amongst other humans that define the overarching mission of our schools.
Understanding the factors influencing a teacher’s decision to leave their role is critical to developing an effective retention strategy. Although compensation is cited most often as a primary reason teachers leave their positions or seek new opportunities, feeling heard, along with recognition and various other factors, plays a role in a teacher’s decision to either stay or leave.
SAD and other forms of depression can negatively impact all three of these developmental areas. Depressive symptoms affect energy, motivation, memory, and focus – all necessary for academic achievement. They can lead to “hibernating” and other forms of social withdrawal that affect both the quality of friendships and participation in activities that develop teamwork and the ability to navigate relationships with different types of people. And, perhaps most damaging of all, depression impacts one’s sense of self.
This is the time of year when teachers may need additional support to stay motivated – and to ensure their students do, too. Administrators have a vital role to play in helping teachers avoid the doldrums of the second half of the year and ensure that the months from January to June remain satisfying and productive for everyone.
While ordinary disappointments are part of any childhood, depression, severe anxiety, and thoughts of harming oneself are not. Alarmingly, these and other mental health issues are on the rise among our nation’s teenagers, leading experts to declare that America’s young people remain in the midst of a growing mental health crisis.
In today’s rapidly evolving educational environment, addressing the mental health needs of students is more critical than ever. School districts have traditionally focused on robust interventions for the most vulnerable students, but many are now expanding their attention to Tier 2 and Tier 1 programming within the Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS).
District leaders face the growing challenge of providing effective mental health care for students while managing limited budgets. One strategy for achieving both goals is returning students from costly outside therapeutic placements back into their home districts. By doing so, districts can reallocate dollars toward in-person, school-based, high acuity support for at-risk students.
School districts face the dual challenge of meeting students’ diverse mental health needs while responsibly managing district resources. One of the most significant opportunities for achieving both goals lies in evaluating and optimizing the annual expenditures on outside therapeutic placements.
Deepening our cultural sensitivity is an ongoing process, and it begins with recognizing our inherent and often unseen biases. Thus, as the winter holidays approach, it’s vitally important for educators to remember that not all students celebrate the same holidays.
Many people love the holiday season and look forward to its boisterous excesses. Others dread the holidays and simply do what they can to endure them until everything gets back to “normal”. Most of us fall somewhere in the middle, loving some aspects and dreading others, while trying to avoid the effects of sensory overload and the stress of trying to live up to the unrealistic expectations that we often place on ourselves and others.
Fill out the form to request a meeting with one of our clinical experts to explore ways we can partner to strengthen your mental health programs.
In-school mental health services and simplified CYBHI reimbursement.
We help districts build clinical programming, manage the CYBHI reimbursement process, and capture more eligible reimbursement without adding administrative burden.
Complete this form to schedule a free mental health planning session where we will discuss available financial sources you can leverage to fund school-based mental health programs in your district.
At ESS, we have an unrelenting focus on data, measuring results, and communicating to our partners the proven impact our programming has on mental health, school outcomes and financial sustainability.
With every ESS partner, we will:
• Set data driven goals at the beginning of every implementation
• Have regular “Report Card” meetings in which we share the impact of ESS services
• Monitor data along the way to look for potential risk areas so that these can be proactively addressed
Complete this form to discuss best practices for districts, states, and federal policymakers that will reinvent mental health in schools over the next five years.
Complete this form to schedule a free consultation to learn more about your needs and challenges and to provide insights on where you may be able to improve mental health support.
