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SFPS expands mental-health training and freshman curriculum districtwide
Summary
Santa Fe Public Schools described a two-year mental-health initiative that trained nearly 200 staff in Youth Mental Health First Aid and certified over 1,000 freshmen after a pilot at Capital High School.
Assistant Director Jen Jefferson described the district's mental-health initiative, launched over the past two years to address rising anxiety and stress among students. She linked causes to pandemic aftereffects, social media pressures, economic hardship and housing instability.
"For the last 2 years, we have launched this mental health initiative," Jefferson said. She told the podcast the district has trained "almost 200 of our staff in youth mental health 1st aid," a daylong training that teaches recognition and initial support for young people in distress.
Jefferson said the district piloted a freshman mental-health curriculum at Capital and then expanded it districtwide: "So every freshman in our district, received and got certified in team mental health 1st aid…that's over 1000 young people that have been trained and certified." She also said parent and caregiver workshops accompany the student curriculum to help families recognize signs and know how to support children.
Jefferson emphasized prevention and early help: students learn when a bad day becomes a mental-health concern, how to support friends and when to bring an adult into the conversation. The district recommends 988 as an early-access resource for families who need guidance before a crisis.
No new funding amounts or formal evaluation data were presented on the podcast; Jefferson described positive student reception and said the district has seen strong engagement in class and workshop settings.
