MATAWAN-ABERDEEN, NJ — Matawan Regional High School successfully completed the Enhancing School Mental Health Services Project, a groundbreaking statewide initiative designed to strengthen mental health support services in New Jersey schools.
Matawan Regional High School is the only school in Monmouth County to complete the program, which is designed to improve the mental health of high school students. The project brought together teams of educators, counselors, school psychologists, social workers, administrators, and other school staff through monthly meetings and training sessions. The goal was to assess student and school needs when it comes to teenage mental health, evaluate current support systems, and identify opportunities for improvement.
It was an intensive, multi-year partnership led by the New Jersey Department of Education and with Rutgers University Center for Comprehensive School Mental Health.
The training showed teachers, counselors and staff at Matawan Regional how to implement evidence-based mental health practices and create systems to better identify and support students in need.
Sheryl Kish, a MRHS special education/math teacher, played a key role in the district’s efforts. Kish, who has taught in the district for nearly 30 years, said the initiative contributed to a positive shift in school culture.
“There’s a greater sense of connection and belonging throughout the building,” she said. “Students are looking out for each other more, and staff members are having more meaningful conversations with students.”
“One of the most valuable parts of the program was taking a close look at how we identify and support students,” she said. “We revamped our intervention and referral process using state guidance and best practices to help identify students in need and ensure staff feel confident having important conversations with students and their families.”
Through a universal behavior screener, MRHS was able to identify students in need of additional outreach and intervention from staff. The screener was given to everyone in the freshman class with parental consent. The screening is entirely confidential and gives valuable insight into student well-being. The surveys continue each year, providing ongoing data and opportunities to regularly assess students.
As part of the initiative, the school also created a health resources website for families, aimed to connect them with counseling and crisis resources.
Kish said she has also seen an improvement in positive school culture through the PACK Bucks (Preparedness, Accountability, Communication, and Kindness) positive recognition program, which encourages students to show positive character traits. Staff members award students with PACK Bucks, which then can be entered into raffles for prizes donated by the school and PTO.
“Over the past two years, this partnership has helped us strengthen how we support students academically, socially and emotionally,” said Michael Wells, principal of Matawan Regional High School. “The work our staff has done through this initiative has created a more proactive and supportive school environment, based on the gold-standard for data-driven, evidence-based best practices for mental health support services.”