MANCHESTER – A new $7.6 million federal grant will help Manchester School District improve student outcomes by advancing its work on building a model that provides support for students around mental health, substance misuse, and school safety.
On Monday, the Board of School Committee officially accepted the grant funding, which will allow the District to fully implement the model across all 21 schools. That model – Multi-Tiered System of Support for Behavioral Health and Wellness (MTSS-B) – is a school-based framework that provides social, emotional, and behavioral supports to promote student wellness and improve engagement in learning.
“The work on this model is ultimately about improving student outcomes, and I am so proud of the team and the work that has been done,” Superintendent of Schools Jennifer Gillis said. “This grant is a massive win for our students, families and staff, one that will allow us to scale up our program at a pace that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise. The fact that we were even considered for this grant is a recognition of all of the work that has been done to date by our district staff and community partners.”
Over a period of five years, the District will leverage the grant funding to implement the MTSS-B framework across all schools, with primary goals of supporting student behavioral health, reducing exclusionary discipline and school violence, and increasing the high school graduation rate. In addition, the district will work to reduce stigmas associated with mental health treatment, increase access to services, and decrease the percentage of students using vaping products.
Manchester leaders cheered approval of the grant.
“Every single student deserves a quality public education that empowers them to thrive both in and outside the classroom,” said Mayor Joyce Craig. “The MTSS-B program will allow the Manchester School District to support students and their families and promote the mental health and wellness that is critical for student achievement. I was proud to join the Board of School Committee in accepting this funding and want to thank the leadership of the Manchester School District for their commitment to providing future generations with the tools necessary to succeed.”
The District will leverage the expertise of an array of community partners – including the Mental Health Center of Greater Manchester, Makin’ It Happen, Amoskeag Health, and the Manchester Health Department – to reach project goals.
"The Manchester Health Department congratulates the Manchester School District on securing this grant award and applauds their efforts in making the mental and behavioral health needs of our community's children a priority,” said Manchester Public Health Director Anna Thomas.
"The Mental Health Center of Greater Manchester is proud to expand upon our partnership with the Manchester School District in strengthening access to high quality behavioral health supports for the youth in our community,” said Jonathan Routhier, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the Greater Manchester Mental Health Center. “By providing on-site clinicians who are well-trained in evidence-based practices, we can support students where they are learning, and help them gain resilience and skills they need for success in their education and community life."
Manchester School District’s work on this project has been led by Stacy Champey, who joined the district several years ago as its first MTSS-B Coach.
“I am excited to be leading this work for the Manchester School District in collaboration with our community partners,” Champey said. “This funding will allow us to build capacity around current work while creating the sustainable structures and systems needed to support student behavioral health. We have a responsibility to the whole student, and addressing behavioral health from prevention through intervention supports positive outcomes for our students.”
Project AWARE is administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. You can read more about Project AWARE at https://www.samhsa.gov/school-campus-health/project-aware. You can find more details on Manchester School District's grant application in the abstract below.
Advancing Behavioral Health & Wellness in the Manchester, NH School District
The Manchester School District, through Project AWARE (Advancing Wellness and Resiliency in Education) is committed to improving outcomes for youth in its schools by implementing NH’s Multi-Tiered System of Supports for Behavioral Health and Wellness (MTSS-B). In collaboration with community partners, the school district will implement tiered supports in the schools from prevention through intervention that support students with mental health, substance misuse, and school safety.
The Manchester School District is the largest urban school district in New Hampshire and has twenty-one (21) schools, including 13 elementary, 4 middle, and 4 high schools serving 12,508 students, with 51.18% of the population considered to be economically disadvantaged. The schools boast diversity, with 49.2% of the district’s enrollment being students of color and over 18.11% of students are English language learners. Mental health and school safety is a rising area of concern for students across the nation, and the Manchester School District recognizes this critical need through its application for Project AWARE. Over a period of five years the project will:
Implement a three-tiered public health model (MTSS-B Framework) in all 21 schools in the Manchester School District to support student behavioral health, reduce incidents of exclusionary discipline and school violence, & increase the high school completion rate.
Increase protective factors for students with systemic training for all school district staff in mental health promotion and trauma awareness, and through the implementation of district and community messaging, systems, & behavioral health integration to reduce stigma and increase help seeking behaviors in students and families to improve access to behavioral health services.
Decrease the percentage of youth who are vaping regularly by implementing evidence-based programming and prevention education in middle and high schools (6,540 students) that informs staff & students of the impacts of vaping on physical health.
MTSS-B is a school-based behavioral health framework that blends Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports, social-emotional learning, and evidence-based practices from prevention through intervention, in collaboration with community partners to target behavioral health integration and improve access to services using a behavioral health equity lens. Professional development for administrators and school teachers in school-wide mental health promotion, peer conflict resolution, and building positive relationships will set a strong foundation to address school wellness and safety. Evidence-based interventions for students in need of brief intervention support for trauma, mental health, and substance misuse will be available to all students. A mental health clinician will be placed in each high school, along with a person-centered planning intervention to support students at risk of not completing high school.
This project will serve the Manchester School District student population by:
- establishing school-based teams for behavioral health prevention and targeted intervention in all schools across the district
- forming a behavioral health integration team at the district level to support school-based teams
- implementing a screening process in all schools to connect students to services as early as possible
- establishing brief intervention services in all schools for mental health and substance misuse
- launching a community and district-wide campaign to raise mental health awareness and support school safety
- providing professional development to staff in systems and practices aligned to the MTSS-B framework.