Message from Head of School Seth Linfield on Health and Wellness at the Center
This message begins with a short but telling video, “Numb,” by a talented Toronto 9th grader, Liv McNeil. This video captures her responses to her pandemic isolation. Take a look before reading further.
LTS is committed to offering a healthy environment in all ways. We place a profound priority on the social and emotional wellness and mental health of our students and faculty. For this upcoming 2020-21 school year, we are devoting significantly greater resources than ever before – in people, time, spaces, and dollars – to this endeavor.
Even before the pandemic’s disruption, we recognized that today’s students were suffering from rising depression, anxiety, and stress. We were planning how to increase access to trained support, resources for healthy coping strategies and adaptive self-care, and community connection. This objective is even more critical now, considering the uncertainty and separation we are all experiencing. We want to help carry the trauma and grief that our students and faculty now bring.
My message of July 9 introduced placing Health and Wellness at the Center. We now present the overall scaffolding. Every facet of our students’ social, emotional, and physical well-being will intertwine in a tapestry of care. We want each student to feel fully supported to soar academically and socially. There are still features that are coming into focus, but critical components will be as follows:
School Nurse. It thrills us to announce the appointment of Stephenie Frawley as our first-ever School Nurse. Stephenie will be the first line of response for identifying and sequestering anyone with COVID-19 symptoms, in coordination with Primary Safety Liaison Scott Magrath. Stephenie will also manage urgent care. In the future, Stephenie will be a pivotal asset for healthy living, nutrition, and prevention and safety within our school environment. Stephenie is an experienced Registered Nurse (and UVM English Literature major!) who will be completing her specialized School Nurse certification in two weeks. You can reach Stephenie at nurse@longtrailschool.org. Welcome aboard, Stephenie!
School Counselor. We will soon appoint a certified School Counselor. We are aligning this School Counselor position with the American School Counselor Association’s National Model. The School Counselor will partner with all of our school stakeholders to promote the personal growth, social development, and academic flourishing of each student.
Our School Counselor will address daily adolescent issues; consult with parents; provide individual and small-group non-therapeutic counseling; coordinate a robust framework of advisories and peer-to-peer groups; be a resource for understanding adolescent development; guide our faculty in redressing dysfunctional behaviors or decreasing academic performance; help us approach illness or death in our community; handle first responses to mental health issues such as eating disorders, physical or sexual abuse, or suicidal ideation – including mandated reporting; and provide referrals to qualified therapists and treatment centers.
As ASCA pointedly notes, more relevant than the question of “What do school counselors do?” is “How are students different as a result of what school counselors do?” We are highly confident that you will see considerable benefits!
Faculty Counseling. There will be a separate, dedicated pathway for counseling for our faculty, which will serve as a confidential support and resource. Teachers are frontline personnel in every sense, facing the particular challenges at work and at home that charge evokes. Our teachers give their full selves to care for our children – and we, in turn, will always nurture our teachers.
Director-Advisor. As earlier announced, Peg Gregory has agreed to serve as Director-Advisor to our health and wellness efforts. Peg, a licensed clinical social worker, previously served as Director of Wellness at Green Mountain College and Director of Mental Health & Substance Abuse Services at United Counseling Service. Peg now maintains a private psychotherapy practice in Manchester. Peg will mentor the School Counselor. You can reach Peg at pgregory@longtrailschool.org. Welcome, Peg!
Athletics. Our Athletics Director, Mike Olson, and our Physical Education instructor, Kat Clemow, will weave their expertise and insights into our overall health and wellness approaches. Kat and Mike (and Anharad) have already posted Workouts to our Wellness website. Thank you, Mike and Kat!
Mindfulness. An active faculty committee, led by Jody Sanderson, who has trained with Mindful Schools, has been adding mindfulness content to our website and developing on-campus activities. We look forward to fully incorporating their work product in our health and wellness offerings. Thank you, Jody and team!
Director of Student Experience. The Director of Student Experience will coordinate all activities beyond our classrooms, other than athletics. The Director will guide the formation of co- and extra-curricular opportunities that welcome all students, including but not limited to students from historically marginalized communities. Included in this person’s charge will be how we can holistically address diversity, inclusiveness, equity, respect, and belonging in school life. The Director will also manage attendance and maintain student discipline, with our Honor Board.
LTS will launch a national search for our first Director of Student Experience. Student representatives will serve on the search committee. In the interim, we expect to appoint a current professional who is not teaching a full load this Fall to carry out these responsibilities.
Student Activities: Reporting to the Director of Student Experience, faculty members who are willing and able to do so will receive stipends for particular co- and extra-curricular activities. Even with our special Fall Opening 2020, we intend to offer an attractive slate of student activities from the outset.
This chart visually represents our direction in placing health and wellness at the center. We will also run a contest among our students to name and prepare artwork for this initiative. Before school starts, we will publish a one-stop diagram showing who to reach for particular issues. Students who elect our ABBA distance learning option will also have meaningful access to these resources, including the School Counselor and the Director of Student Experience.
We are going all in to care for every aspect of our school family’s mental, emotional, and physical well-being. We want to encourage and empower every person in our sphere to do their most inspired work, even in the face of the pandemic. We deliberated whether to roll out such an intensive and expensive initiative now or defer to a more “normal” period. The altered landscape of our children’s lives, and ours too, squarely demands this investment in our healthier selves of tomorrow.
Thank you, as always, for your continued trust.
In health,
/s/ Seth Linfield
Head of School