dress student mental health and wellness on
campus. Although the types of programs
varied, common themes included parent
education programs, peer-to-peer support
programs, and comprehensive wellness pro-
grams. Yet, it was the creation of policy that
seemed to solidify the student mental health
and wellness programs within a school
district. By creating broad policy change,
superintendents have worked to adjust cal-
endars, bell schedules, and homework poli-
cies in an effort to reduce student stress and
maintain a healthy approach to academic
achievement. Ultimately, it is a combina-
tion of measures including programming,
education, and policy change being imple-
mented by the school district that will truly
combat mental health and wellness con-
cerns in a lasting, meaningful way.
Implications and Conclusion
The results and findings of our research
emphasizes the importance of the specific
role that high-performing school districts
play in addressing students’ mental health
and wellness in high schools. Overwhelm-
ingly, all school districts in our study noted
elevated student mental health concerns and
a sharp rise in pressure and stress in schools.
In school districts with well established pro-
grams, there is a deep rooted belief that stu-
dent mental health and wellness must be an
integral part of the district’s mission. They
have made this an extensive focus with goals
and objectives to address student wellness
in their board goals, district road maps,and
site planning. These districts have been ad-
dressing this issue with the same dedication
as new academic standards or a textbook
adoption. Student wellness is treated as an
integral part of learning programs on each
school campus; it is not considered an add-
on program or a week-long spirit ribbon
week. Instead, it is a team effort from the su-
perintendent and board to site administra-
tion to school staff, not a charge being led by
a single individual or a parent group hiring a
guest speaker. Rather, it is a comprehensive
approach with sustainable, financial backing
that is a vital part of the district’s decision
making and core values.
Although there is no one way to solve this
growing epidemic in high achieving com-
munities, school districts must move ag-
gressively to create policy change that is stu-
dent centered and aimed at reducing stress.
School districts must make student mental
health and wellness a main priority and
focus for the district, adopting a multifac-
eted approach to professional development,
parent education, and student awareness.
Prevention, intervention, and postvention
programming must also be included in the
approach, as well as having staffing in place
to increase the needed mental health support
on school campuses.
Educators want all students to come to
school each day ready to engage in the learn-
ing process. Yet, it is important to remember
that students must be emotionally available
in order to engage successfully in the class-
room curriculum. If the culture of a school
and community is unhealthy, learning will
become secondary. Students in high-per-
forming school districts are under extraor-
dinary, unprecedented amounts of stress and
pressure to succeed and this crisis is erupting
throughout our state. Students are battling
mental health issues of anxiety, depression,
substance use, and suicidal ideation in re-
cord numbers, and these issues are manifest-
ing in classrooms and on school campuses.
It is part of educators’ moral imperative to
develop programs to address students’ men-
tal health needs in these high-performing
school districts. Programs must address
students’ needs from all angles, including
preventative education, intervention during
crises, and postvention support to ensure
smooth and continual access to curriculum.
Educational leaders must start an honest
dialogue in schools with all stakeholders to
ratchet down the intense pressure that stu-
dents feel to achieve. All stakeholders must
stop focusing on college acceptance rates,
GPAs, and excessive expectations in student
achievement, athletics, and extracurricular
activities. Without these changes, students
will continually fail to meet unrealistic
expectations leading to alarming mental
health issues that will alter their lives. Edu-
cational leaders can change the tenor of the
conversation surrounding student wellness
and mental health and explore how everyone
can begin to make meaningful changes that
puts students and their mental wellness first.
References
Austin, G.,