Like teens everywhere, the students at Newington High School in Newington, Connecticut, are struggling with anxiety and other mental health challenges. Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, teachers and administrators at the school recognized the sharp uptick in teen mental health issues familiar to educators in districts across the country. In 2017, the school began looking for ways to expand their mental health supports. They decided to partner with Effective School Solutions.
Meeting the Rising Intensity with Comprehensive Mental Health Supports
Newington High School has a population of nearly 1,300 students. Its two full-time social workers, school psychologist, and seven school counselors were already seeing hundreds of kids a day, but in 2017, Terra Tigno, Newington’s principal, says the need was still not being met. It was an issue of breadth and depth: in addition to more kids needing help, the intensity of the need was increasing. Tigno was aware that a nearby high school had partnered with Effective School Solutions (ESS), so she visited the school to learn what ESS had to offer. While there, she talked with some of the students who were participating in the ESS program, and one of them told her, “This program saved my life.” Tigno says, “That was pretty much all I needed to hear.” She was also impressed by the degree to which ESS worked directly with families – something she knew was important for students’ success but which their current staffing didn’t allow.
After meetings with ESS, the superintendent and the board gave the go-ahead to implement Tier 3 Programming at the school in the fall of 2018. Tigno says the decision was almost immediate. “We’re fortunate to have a board that recognizes that mental health is a challenge right now and that our students need to address that before education can even begin.”
Tier 3 Programming: Intensive, In-School Clinical Support
Newington is not the only school that has seen a steady increase in students with more intensive needs, such as anxiety, low frustration tolerance, and school avoidance. It’s the case everywhere.
ESS’s Tier 3 Program provided a way for these students – who needed more than a quick check-in – to stay in school while getting the more in-depth support they needed. ESS’s Tier 3 Program consists of embedded clinical care that’s located right in the school building, so kids can attend school and remain part of the community, while getting adequate support.
Among the many strengths of the program, Tigno cites the family support, which includes home visits; the strong rapport clinicians build with students; the ability to tailor care to each student’s need; and the teamwork that characterizes the relationship between ESS providers and the Newington school staff.
The Results
There are many ways to measure the success of the program. In the last year, students in the ESS program have shown significant academic improvement, with 75% of students improving or maintaining their GPA, 76% of students improving or maintaining their attendance, and 88% of students improving or maintaining in discipline. When it comes to parent satisfaction, 95% said they’re satisfied with the program and that they see an improvement in their child. The program at the high school has been so successful that both of Newington’s middle schools have begun working with ESS. Since the program was implemented, 11 outside therapeutic placements have been prevented district wide, creating a cost savings for the district of $1.1 million.
Recently a former student who graduated from Newington High School in 2021 returned to the school so she could thank her ESS clinician. Since graduating she’d moved, gotten a fulltime job, and had her own apartment. She said the skills she’d learned through ESS had set her up for success, and she wanted to say thank you.
“ESS is worth every penny. It’s literally saving lives. You can’t put a price tag on that.”
-Terra A. Tigno, Principal, Newington High School
