Life at Miss Hall’sJan 3, 2024

updated Jan 26, 2024

Investing in Wellness

Preparing to be their best selves

具有讽刺意味的是,一个全面发展的学生的形象并不总是包括健康. MHS提高了对学生福利的认识,希望改变这种看法.

The appointment of a Dean of Wellness, a reimagining of the Advising Program, 以及更多的时间用于社交情绪学习(SEL),这些只是澳门威利斯网站今年正在形成的工作方式中的一部分.

The Health and Wellness Team has also grown, an annual day devoted to wellness is expanding to a weeklong focus, 最近的一项评估发现,MHS学生的整体幸福感相对强于美国学生.S. high schools in general.

Dean of Wellness Kristen Milano

“我们正在采取的举措强调了我们对学生健康和社交情感学习的重视,” explains Kristen Milano, who was appointed in July as the School’s inaugural Dean of Wellness. “他们还展示了对学生发展和各领域学习的承诺, inside and outside of the classroom, because research shows us that students who feel healthy, safe, and supported, ultimately, are students who succeed.”

健康院长职位是学校领导团队的一部分,是为了应对学校和其他机构面临的后covid挑战而设立的. These include soaring rates of mental health challenges among children, adolescents, and their families during the pandemic, 以至于美国儿科学会和其他专业组织在2021年宣布全国儿童心理健康紧急状态. 文化上,人们也越来越意识到健康的重要性.

“我们觉得在学生的心理健康和健康方面投入额外的资源是及时的,” said Head of School Julia Heaton. “By elevating this position to the senior Leadership Team, we also advance our strategic goal of a joyful, connected, and holistic student experience.”

Ms. Milano, who joined MHS in 2021 as Director of Health and Wellness, was a logical choice for the position. 她的新角色包括监督学生健康的各个方面,与院长和其他专业人士合作,设计和提供社交情感学习,并重新构想学院的咨询项目.

“Long-term, 我们希望利用数据和最佳实践,为全校健康项目的发展提供信息,” Ms. Milano adds. “With the Leadership Team, 我们正在考虑健康是如何以及应该如何融入文化, 我们正在设想采取措施,最好地为我们的学生提供他们茁壮成长所需的技能.”

Several Initiatives Underway

Among the first initiatives has been reimagining the Advising Program, long an MHS strong point in fostering connections among students, their peers, and adults.

澳门威利斯网站的每个学生都有一个顾问,作为个人和学术顾问, and who serves as a liaison with other faculty members, school administrators, and the student’s family. Indeed, 导师通常是学生最有力的支持者之一,也是学生个人团队的关键成员.

Academic Coordinator/Advising Coordinator Rebecca Cook Dubin P’24

This summer, 长期MHS英语老师丽贝卡库克杜宾P ' 24踏入学术协调员和咨询协调员的角色. In her advising role, Ms. Cook-Dubin provides guidance and resources, including professional development, to Advisors, 同时也是顾问的联络人和定期联络人.

“The goal is for advisors to feel empowered to do what they do best, which is supporting students,” explains Ms. Milano. “And, to do that best, 顾问自己也需要得到支持,并且他们拥有与学生联系所需的资源.”

Ms. 库克-杜宾的工作包括支持每周顾问会议可以促进社会情感学习的方法, building on this year’s Student Life theme of “Me, You, Us.” A riff on the MHS school motto Meus Honor Stat (Latin for My Honor Stands), the theme is an exploration of who each of us is as an individual, how we interact with others, and how we work together to maintain an inclusive community.

New “Superblocks,” 90-minute windows in the academic schedule, 每月提供更多机会,处理全校及班级层面的SEL问题.

健康与健康团队还与地平线教师合作,扩大了9年级地平线项目每周提供的社交情感学习. 该澳门威利斯网站现在包括19门澳门威利斯网站,基于以物理为特色的综合健康模式, mental, and social-emotional components, including communication skills, healthy relationships, social media, sexuality education and reproduction, substance use and abuse, body image, and other topics.

Also new this year, 一年一度的精神健康峰会——一个专注于学习精神健康的日子——已经扩大为健康周. “我们的目标是让学生们参与到‘一劳永逸’的机会中来,’ but reinforced throughout the week,” Ms. Milano explains.

我们希望学生充分利用学术机会来发展智力. 我们也希望他们利用各种机会在个人和人际关系上成长.

Dean of Wellness

To support these initiatives, the Health and Wellness team has grown to four nurses and two counselors, 提供处理学生日常需求和展示SEL澳门威利斯网站的能力. All to say, the School prioritizes student wellness, 对于那些熟悉以学生为中心的教学方法的人来说,这可能并不奇怪. It has been successful.

Student Wellbeing Strong

Last Spring, 学校与“真实联系”组织合作,对MHS学生进行了“高成就学校调查”. Most students — 92%! — participated in the anonymous survey, which gathered data on values, empathy and kindness, depression and anxiety, substance use, and relationships with family, friends, and school adults.

我们的目标是更多地了解学生的当务之急和关注点, accordingly, inform MHS initiatives. 该调查还深入了解了MHS学生的健康状况. Ms. Milano’s team is working to present findings to the MHS community, but overall, results were positive.

“与普通高中和美国其他学校相比,我们学生的幸福感很强.S.” she notes. “Overall, 我们的学生感到与社区——与成年人和同龄人——有联系,这是我们真正努力的目标, so it is great to have that feedback.”

Areas to work on include instances where students feel less connected. “这包括来自代表性不足背景的学生,以及与我们的多元化合作, Equity, 确保我们有适当的支持,以便所有学生都能感受到与学校的积极联系,” Ms. Milano adds.

There is also room to improve connections with parents and families. “这是澳门威利斯网站达成共识,让家人理解我们如何处理事情, so families can best support students, and they can communicate to us, so we can best support their student,” she adds.

(2023年MHS心理健康峰会主题演讲者伊莎贝尔·加西亚,Estoy Aquí LLC)

All the initiatives, Ms. Milano continues, reflect the School’s hopes for the Miss Hall’s graduate. “当然,我们希望学生充分利用学术机会来发展智力, 但我们也希望他们利用机会,在个人和人际关系上成长, so they can be the contributing global citizens we want them to become,” she says.

In other words, 健康和社交情感学习是学生成功的基础——不仅仅是在澳门威利斯网站, but also setting them up for success post-MHS. Foregrounding that work recognizes its importance.

“It’s an acknowledgement that learning doesn’t stop outside of the classroom, 学生需要在学习的同时学习某些情感和社交技能,” Ms. Milano adds. “这也是承认它需要融入我们学校的日常生活和文化, and that these are skills that will allow students to thrive academically, socially, emotionally, in college, and in jobs.”

Student Fun — Fall 2023

Fall 2023 student scenes from the campus