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The Schools We Need Now
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Place mental health at the heart of schooling

Our students have always needed our support, but recent events have brought to the forefront the challenges K-12 schools face in supporting their mental health. Now is the time to transform schools into safe and healthy places that enable students not only to learn but also thrive.

Based on decades of research and proven examples from education professionals and the authors—who are experts in school leadership and social workThe Schools We Need Now highlights the importance of placing mental health at the heart of schooling and shares a vision for schools that prioritizes student well-being. Inside you’ll discover:

  • Practical ways to improve school climate and mitigate the effects of students’ stress, trauma, depression, and anxiety
  • Preventive activities, school transition and crisis response plans, and community collaboration strategies
  • How to create a comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan that is grounded your school’s culture and climate
  • Examples of schools, classrooms, and organizations that are on the leading edge of creating the schools we need now

For every educator who wants to ensure a healthy and equitable school environment for all students, The Schools We Need Now shows you how to create a safe place that protects and supports their academic, social, emotional, and physical growth.


 
Foreword
 
Chapter 1: The Need for Mentally Healthy Schools
Why is Mental Health important in schools?

 
Creating a Mental Health Action Plan

 
Overview of the Book and your Plan

 
A Call to Action

 
Creating Your Mental Health Action Plan: A Template

 
 
Chapter 2: Mental Health and Mental Models
Mental Model: A Developmental Model for the Whole Child

 
Mental Model: A Whole-School Systems Thinking Approach

 
Mental Model: A Culture of Caring

 
Mental Model: A Continuum of Care

 
Mental Model: Thinking Differently about Mental Health

 
Mental Model: A Multi-Tiered Systems of Support Approach to Mental Health

 
Conclusion: Mental Models as the Foundation of your Action Plan

 
 
Chapter 3: Tier 1 Mental Health: Universal Supports for All
Tier 1: What do we mean by “universal”?

 
Tier 1 as Prevention and Early Intervention

 
Universal Challenges to Everyone

 
Safety First: “Maslow before you Bloom”

 
Stigma and stereotypes

 
Disconnection from Relationships and Community

 
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

 
Tier 1 Interventions

 
Social and Emotional Learning

 
Physical Learning and Wellness

 
Academic and Cognitive Learning

 
 
Chapter 4: Tier 2 Issues and interventions for students, teachers, and parents…and schools!
Tier 1 and Tier 2 Screeners: Building an Early Detection System

 
Internalized behaviors: Stress, Anxiety, and Trauma

 
Impact of Stress

 
School Refusal

 
The Window of Tolerance

 
Related Tier 2 Issues: Loneliness, Isolation, Grief, and Loss

 
Tier II Interventions and Strategies

 
Knowing the Signs of Distress

 
Mindfulness in Schools

 
Student Behavior and Discipline: A Shift to Restorative Practices

 
Peer helping, Mediation, Mentoring, and Tutoring

 
Anti-Bullying Programs

 
Parent/Family education, programs, and engagement

 
 
Chapter 5: Tier 3: Supporting Students and Staff with the Greatest Needs
Defining Tier 3 and how it connects to Tier 1 and 2

 
Defining Mental Illness

 
Comorbidity

 
Anxiety and Depression

 
Substance Use

 
Disordered Eating

 
Focus on Self-Harm

 
Suicidal Ideation

 
Suicide Intervention

 
Focus on Disruptive Behavior Disorders

 
Childhood trauma

 
Equity and Mental Illness

 
Focus on Neurodiversity

 
Tier 3 Prevention and Intervention

 
School Staff Expertise and Training

 
Parent and Family Support

 
Community organizations and resources

 
Crisis Response

 
 
Chapter 6: Integrating the Mental Health Action Plan in Your School
Begin with Belonging

 
Rethinking the Organization of a School

 
Rethinking the Physical Building

 
Rethinking Technology and Mental Health

 
Rethinking Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment

 
Rethinking Teachers and Instruction

 
Rethinking Assessment

 
Rethinking Transitions

 
Rethinking After School Activities

 
Rethinking School Context and Community Assets

 
Implementing a Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan

 
A School that is Changing the Game: Wolcott College Prep

 
Conclusion

 
 
Appendix A: Mental Health Action Plan Template

"In their informative and instructive book, Tim Dohrer and Tom Golebiewski have accurately identified the mental health crisis that all schools are experiencing in the post-pandemic era. This current reality necessitates establishing a supportive, inclusive, and equitable school community for students, their families, and their teachers.  

The Schools We Need Now calls us to rethink the purpose of schooling and learning. We must attend to students’ social and psychological well-being along with their academic progress. We must prioritize child, adolescent, and adult development and adopt pedagogy that addresses the whole child and culturally responsive teaching. We must understand social and emotional learning domains that create a school culture of care, belonging, and wellness and we must embrace assessment for learning rather than assessment of learning. We must include family mental health education programs and services. Finally, we must create conditions, systems, and structures that maximize support, prevention, intervention, and trauma-informed teaching practices. The Schools We Need Now provides a blueprint to create a multi-tiered school-based mental health action plan that considers childhood trauma, stress, anxiety, grief, loss, transitions, and self-harm."

Richard Streedain
Leadership Coach for Common Foundation

"In these challenging post-pandemic times, Dohrer and Golebiewski provide leadership in rethinking one of our highest priority social and school improvement topics: the mental health of America's youth. They offer a comprehensive treatment of this complex domain, including the current social context of mental health, visions of excellence, and priority needs and how to meet them. Their work arises from exceptional scholarship combined with a thoughtful sense of practical reality. This book offers a roadmap to student mental and academic well-being."

Rick Stiggins
Author of "Give Our Student the Gift of Confidence"
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Sample Materials & Chapters

Ch01

Ch02

FM


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