Keller ISD expands Hope Squad peer-suicide-prevention program to all middle and high schools

Keller ISD has implemented the Hope Squad peer-to-peer suicide-prevention program across all seven district middle schools and its four comprehensive high schools, district counseling staff said during the SHAC meeting on Feb. 10.

Hope Squad, a student-nominated program that trains peers to spot signs of distress and connect classmates to trusted adults, was described by Kristen Elam, director of counseling services and CCMR for Keller ISD: "Hope Squad is a group of nominated students who meet regularly with trained advisors ... [who] are trained to notice signs of distress and connect peers to help and hope." The district paid an estimated $15,000 to cover the program for those schools; that cost was covered by the Keller Education Foundation, Elam said.

The program trains campus advisers—primarily certified school counselors who have completed QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) training—to teach an age‑appropriate HOPE approach. Elam said the HOPE approach teaches members to raise a "heads up" for students who may be struggling, offer support, provide information about resources and empower peers to seek help. She emphasized that student members are not counselors: "They are not counseling those students. They are not acting as any type of mental health professional," Elam said.

Lauren Kennedy, a seventh-grade counselor and Hope Squad advisor at Trinity Springs, described how nominations work and how the program operates on a campus: students are nominated by classmates in a campus-wide nomination process; counselors and administrators tally nominations and contact parents before a student may participate. Trinity Springs currently has 13 students who completed training and signed participation agreements, Kennedy said. "Because of Hope Squad, we've had four students who have been referred to us by a Hope Squad member," she said, describing referrals involving self-harm and suicidal ideation that led to counseling and parent notification.

Elam and Kennedy described several implementation details shared with SHAC members: the nomination process began in September; the district held a standing-room-only parent information night before training and enrollment; campus advisers have access to an adviser portal with on-demand resources and monthly virtual meetups; and advisers may include trained teacher volunteers or PTA members as supporting adults on campuses.

Districtwide data for the first semester showed 14 Hope Squad encounters, nine of which resulted in counselor follow-up such as a mental-health check-in or a suicide-risk assessment, Elam said. Six campuses reported no encounters in the first semester; several campuses reported increased student connectedness and staff noted behavior such as students who formerly sat alone now engaging with peers.

Elam said Hope Week activities are underway and noted the National Day of Hope on Feb. 13. Examples of campus activities included wearing yellow, distributing reminder cards with the suicide hotline that is printed on student ID cards, and handing out positive notes and small items to raise awareness and reduce stigma.

SHAC members asked about curriculum access, boundaries for peer conversations, family involvement, and online adviser supports. Elam said the Hope Squad curriculum is viewable by appointment in the counseling office rather than distributed publicly; she described adviser-only online forums and said advisers and parents receive QPR information during training. She reiterated that Hope Squad members are taught to identify warning signs and refer peers to a trusted adult rather than provide therapy.

Program supporters at SHAC described Hope Squad as a climate-change measure: Elam said districts that have run the program routinely identify improved campus climate and increased awareness of trusted adults as top outcomes. Elam noted that some districts expand Hope Squad participation beyond secondary schools to larger community groups; Keller ISD is not currently planning implementation at elementary campuses because of cost.

The presentation closed with staff and SHAC members discussing next steps for evaluation and follow-up: campus surveys and a district scope document to collect campus-level curriculum and practice data, and plans to continue submitting encounter and referral data to track program usage.

The presentation and Q&A occupied the primary portion of the SHAC agenda before the group returned to bylaws and breakout sessions later in the meeting.