Mental‑health screenings show improvements; Methuen High earns UMass Lowell early‑college designation

District staff told the Methuen School Committee on June 26 that universal mental‑health screening and progress monitoring show gains in several indicators and that the district secured an early‑college designation with UMass Lowell that will allow Methuen High School students to take college courses with financial support.

The screenings

John Crocker, who presented the screening results, said spring data showed reductions in severe anxiety and depression for high‑school students relative to earlier administrations and that the district had moved to a common screening tool for grades 5–12 to allow consistent longitudinal monitoring. "The goal of screening is not to get a 100% compliance from kids," Crocker said. "The goal of screening is to provide an opportunity for a kid that's ready to talk about a very serious problem… and connecting them with a trusted adult."

Crocker and other administrators noted the district’s screening program has matured over a decade, with higher participation this year and a very low opt‑out rate from families. The district is also maintaining caseload monitoring spreadsheets for counselors to track students receiving tier‑2 and tier‑3 services and to measure whether supports stabilize or improve students’ functioning.

Early college designation

Superintendent Dr. Quang announced Methuen High School’s approval for UMass Lowell’s early‑college designation. The designation allows students to earn college credits at no cost, with the early‑college grant covering teacher stipends, books and transportation when needed and DESE reimbursing UMass Lowell for credit hours. The district has selected initial pathways in teaching, engineering and law/criminal justice; juniors and seniors would take two college courses per year in the pathway sequence.

Student participation and youth civic projects

The administration also logged extracurricular rosters at Methuen High School to better measure participation. Staff reported they had imported club and activity rosters into the student information system to create a more accurate participation data set rather than relying on self‑reports. The committee heard summaries of youth participatory action research (YPAR) projects in each school; several teams won commendations at a state showcase for projects such as sustainable cafeteria practices and access to hygiene products.

Discussion vs. action: the screening and early‑college items were informational and planning items; the early‑college designation is a district achievement tied to an external program rather than a committee vote during this meeting.

Ending: administrators said they will continue progress monitoring of mental‑health services, expand community mental‑health literacy and report back on implementation details of the early‑college courses and student participation tracking before the fall term.