Northshore’s Attention to Mental Health

Normalizing the conversation around mental health and mental illness is something the Northshore School District has worked hard at.

Our 24,000-student district in a suburb north of Seattle, Wash., has strengthened relationships with community partners for mental health support and education for students, educators, families and the broader public.

Some recent key facets of this work in Northshore include:

• A professional development initiative, “Mindfulness for Educators Supporting Yourself and Your Students,” in which school staff learn about mindfulness and how to apply its principles into the school day.
• Mental health therapists in all secondary schools. Title 1 elementary schools have mental health therapist services available.
• Social-emotional learning in each school.
• Never Alone, a district-hosted community event in January 2020 with the local chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness as a partner, to focus attention on mental health and suicide prevention.
• A three-part workshop series for parents and guardians on helping adolescents reduce stress and anxiety while increasing well-being.
• Expanded mental health resources on the district’s website during the pandemic at www.nsd.org/mentalhealth.

RICK FERRELL is director of student services in the Northshore School District in Bothell, Wash.