Wellness Center an Oasis for High Schoolers
Amidst the turbulence of high school life, Castro Valley has created a sanctuary of mental health for its students.
Coming up on its two-year anniversary of opening, the Wellness Center at Castro Valley High School was designed to provide dedicated space for students to meet with district professionals to support students through individual and group counseling and partners with other agencies to work with students and meet their mental health needs.
“The center grew from a desire to serve the whole student in a space that was created intentionally for their wellbeing,” said Marian Meadows, the Coordinator of the Behavioral Services who oversees the Wellness Center and behavioral health throughout the district.
The choice to expand the district’s behavioral services came at a confluence of several tragedies in the mid-2010s including the sudden loss of student Terri Byrd as well as the losses of Activities Director Nicholas "Dubb" Whitaker and ASL teacher Ovida de Julia to cancer.
“Students were looking for mental health services to deal with their grief,” Meadows said.
Prior to the Wellness Center opening, students would either make time with their career counselor or drop in at the health office in the main building. Neither was quiet. Meadows, along with two other full-time certified Nephrology Social Work (NSW) staffers worked in portables for the last three years, until the permanent structure was built. The team has expanded to include as many as six university graduates in the health field helping with the rotation.
The nearly 8,000 square feet building and adjoining health classes on the northwest corner of the campus were built using Measure G Bond program funds. Meadows says the space is beautiful, the art outside provides lightness and joy, the rooms and meeting spaces are comfortable and comforting.
“Student success is not just academic,” she said. “Having the dedicated space to support the whole student will ultimately support student success.”
Ironically, the Wellness Center opened on March 13, 2020, the same day that the district closed its doors and all education went virtual.
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, seven in ten teens surveyed by the Pew Research Center said they or their friends suffered from anxiety and depression. Now, three professional health organizations—the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and the Children’s Hospital Association—say the pandemic-related breakdown of mental health teens has become a national emergency.
“Sometimes it’s hard for us as parents to understand our teens because we forget what we had to go through when we were their age,” Meadow said. “Developmentally, they are at a stage where it’s likely they will turn to a trusted relative like an aunt, or a teacher, or a coach to seek assistance. That’s why at the Wellness Center, we look to see how we can change how we interact with our students and provide a safe place for them.”
Lots of Options for Mental Health
The center offers a few levels of service. Students can ask for a hall pass to drop into the Wellness Center and spend at least one class session decompressing while conducting a self-check of their mental health. Meadows reports 85% of those checking in are able to successfully return to class after a glass of water, a snack, or a game of Connect Four.
Each visit and exit require a scan of a QR code that allows the student to check in and let staff know someone is in the Drop-in room, it also allows specialists to identify students who visit frequently.
“We ask them how they are doing and to see if they are in need of some additional services,” “It also deters students from just ditching class.”
Students who check in more than a few times a week are contacted directly by a staff member who asks deeper questions about the student’s situation. Those who do are referred to additional services. And if students and staff agree that more help is needed, individual and group counseling can be applied.
The program allows for parental involvement at the referral and individual counseling level, she said. The staff also works with other health care providers such as a psychiatrist or doctor.
“They may only see their therapist once a week, but the student can drop into the Wellness Center more frequently, which is beneficial for them to get the help they need.”
Despite the massive impact COVID-19 has had on the high school experience, Meadows says that’s not on the top of the list for reasons students come to the Center.”
“Mostly, it’s about having to deal with peer groups and social support now that we’re all back at school,” Meadows said. “At home, things may have been quiet, but now students are slowly learning to interact again. That includes adjusting to other people.”
Other stressful issues include anxiety about assignment deadlines and their parents.
As the District Coordinator, Meadows says the next priority for the district is to expand Wellness services to Redwood High School. And even before opening up an office at the alternative-learning campus, she adds that the district could provide shuttle services for two days that Castro Valley High School students leave early.