Between rigorous course loads and numerous extra-curricular activities, students today are busy building impressive resumes to distinguish themselves in an increasingly competitive college admissions process. Factor in parental pressure, a 24/7 digital life, and the growing pains of adolescence, and you’ll find students are stressed out, sleep-deprived, and often ill-prepared for new and less-familiar settings.
In response, schools are looking for ways to help students deal with the stress and pace of their lives.
This tool kit will help you improve student mental health and wellness in four key areas:
I. Support students in crisis
Students with clinical mental health needs represent a major challenge for schools, especially when it comes to pre-crisis identification and post-crisis reintegration.
In this section of the toolkit, you’ll find a document to help faculty serve as the first line of defense for students in need and a guide to re-integrate students after a mental health crisis.
- Students of Concern Form: To facilitate grade- or division-wide faculty and counseling staff meetings, have faculty use this document prior to and following those meetings to identify larger patterns of concerning student behavior.
Purpose: to surface troubling patterns of student behavior that suggests a potential mental health concern.
- Bridge for Resilient Youth in Transition (BRYT) Checklist: This checklist will help you set up a structured reintegration system for students recovering from mental health crises. This approach will support student reintegration, avoid re-hospitalization, and help students finish school on schedule.
Purpose: to provide schools with specific guidance on the people and processes that need to be in place to ensure returning students are able to successfully reintegrate into the school community.
II. Deploy time in a student-centric way
Homework is one of the biggest drivers of stress and anxiety among students.
With the resources below, you’ll be able to assess your school’s homework load (according to students, faculty, and parents), align teacher-student expectations around homework, and help teachers maximize homework effectiveness.
- Homework Stress Survey Tool: This two-part survey will help faculty and school leaders compare their expectations of homework difficulty to the experience of their students. Purpose: to provide schools greater visibility into their homework load
- Homework Load Diagnostic and Solution Implementation Guide: This homework load diagnostic will help schools identify which type of homework challenge their school faces, along with the most appropriate solution for that particular challenge. Additional information around solution implementation is also included in the guide. Purpose: to identify the root cause of a school’s homework challenge and the corresponding best practice solution.
- Homework Rubric Tool: This sample rubric can help teachers better communicate expectations surrounding specific assignments while ensuring student-teacher conversations about assignments are productive and non-confrontational.
Purpose: to support schools looking to create their own, institution-specific homework rubric.
- Homework Guidance Infographic: This simple infographic provides research-based best practices for designing effective homework. The easy-to-read format makes it ideal to post in department offices and teaching and learning centers.
Purpose: to provide faculty with best practice guidance on homework design.
III. Reframe college admissions
As entry to top-tier universities continues to get tougher, schools should look for ways to reframe their college admissions programming to focus student attention on personal growth through the development interests and passions. Rather than framing high school as strictly a means to college, this reorientation will make high school a valuable experience on its own.
This section of the toolkit includes a goal-setting worksheet that counselors can use to help students develop their passions while becoming competitive college applicants.
- Goal Setting Worksheet: Students should use this worksheet to create and track personal goals, setting new goals at the beginning of each school year. Progress should be assessed twice a year in a meeting with the student’s college counselor.
Purpose: to serve as a template for schools looking to develop a more growth-oriented approach to college counseling.
IV. Equip students with life skills
Supporting student mental health and wellness is only part of the equation. Schools should also equip students with skills and resources that will allow them to thrive in the face of future challenges and adversity.
In this section of the toolkit, you’ll find a list of organizations with proven expertise in developing these essential tools and resources among K-12 students.
- Guide to Finding Partner Organizations in Student Wellness: The number of organizations who offer meaningful solutions for student wellness can be overwhelming. The seven organizations on this list have track records of successful student wellness partnerships with independent schools.
Purpose: to help schools looking to expand their programming around mindfulness, social emotional learning, and leadership development identify strong partner organizations.
This resource requires EAB partnership access to view.
Access the tool
Learn how you can get access to this resource as well as hands-on support from our experts through District Leadership Forum.
Learn More