Comprehensive Mental Health Approach at New Trier

A key goal for New Trier is to connect students with both acute and chronic needs to mental health resources. Students who are struggling are identified in multiple ways. Our strongest resource for identifying these students is our emphasis on building trusted relationships between students and adults such as advisers, classroom teachers, support services, club sponsors, coaches, and other staff such as department assistants and security.

We hope that students will disclose any concerns to these trusted adults, but we also know that adults who have built relationships with students can more easily recognize indirect behaviors that may indicate a mental health concern, including not being connected, academic difficulties, changes in behavior, or substance use.

The following areas of the school help us identify students at risk:

• Adviser Program
• Adviser Chairs
• Social Work referrals from teachers, coaches
• Academic monitoring
• Academic support programs
• Extracurricular participation monitoring
• Social Work services
• Student Assistance Program
• Teacher training in QPR (Question - Persuade - Refer)
• Text-A-Tip and TrevTips anonymous reporting
• Student self and peer referrals
• Screening in health classes
• Health Services
• Parent University programs

Above and beyond our work to identify students at risk, it is important that we eliminate any stigma about seeking and receiving mental health support. Strategies include discussions in our health classes and Adviser Program, support through trusted relationships, drop-in programs that allow access to mental health services, and anonymous reporting sites to encourage referrals.

• Adviser Program
• Relationships with trusted adults
• Text-A-Tip and TrevTips anonymous reporting
• Social Work and Student Assistance Program drop-in
• Student Support and Affinity Groups
• Health Services

Once students are identified or seek help, they should be connected to services that can best serve their needs. We have extensive internal resources dedicated to mental health support and have strong connections with outside groups. Our mental health professionals run support groups, connect families to other professional services, and provide individual counseling.

• Social Work Department 
• Student Support and Affinity Groups
• Student Assistance Program
• Health Services
• Psychologists
• Adviser Program
• Parent communication
• Communication and partnership with organizations such as Haven Youth and Family Services, Erika's Lighthouse, and The Family Institute at Northwestern University
• Community-based counseling services

Schools need plans for students in crisis that provide close monitoring and immediate connections to resources. That monitoring needs to be a collective effort of a team including the school, the family, and other professionals and organizations. In response to an emergency, the school must be ready to work with the entire school community to process crises.

• Text-A-Tip and Trev Tips
• Social Work access and approach
• Teacher training in QPR (Question - Persuade - Refer)
• Connections with the Crisis Response Network of the North Shore
• Bridges (transition back to school from hospitalization or extended absence)
• Grief and suicide awareness resources
• Crisis plans for emergency situations

Healthy students must develop social-emotional skills so they can be connected to others, build strong relationships, and weather tough times. Our work with the CASEL model directs our efforts toward the development of self-management, self-awareness, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision making.

• New Trier 2030 - Social-Emotional Skill Building
• Social Work, Student Assistance Program and special programs
• Core SEL Competencies
• Growth Mindset
• Health Curriculum
• Adviser Room activities

Healthy students feel connected to other people and the activities that fill their day. They feel that they belong in our school, have an impact on their own lives, and find value in the relationships and activities that fill their day.

• Extensive extracurricular program
• No cut sports each season
• Many options for electives and core academic classes
• Student Support and Affinity Groups
• Adviser Program