GUILFORD COUNTY, N.C. — A growing number of schools around the country are exploring new ways to support teachers' mental health. Wednesday, Guilford County Schools announced it is now providing free mental health support for teachers and staff.
Superintendent Dr. Whitney Oakley said the school district will use federal relief funds to support GCS staff through a partnership with E-Therapy.
“Since I was named superintendent just in early September, I've met with more than 2,000 people across our community and across our organization and the biggest thing that keeps coming up is the needs around mental health,” Dr. Oakley said.
The online mental health support provided by E-Therapy uses a solution-focused strategy to help employees identify where they need assistance and provide them with tools to meet those needs. Dr. Oakley said the free services are confidential and provide flexible appointments for the rest of the school year.
“Having good mental health means that we can do the rest of our work,” Dr. Oakley said. “Making sure that we feel good, and we're taken care of, and we have support, and it means we can get to our core business which is teaching and learning."
Before this rollout for GCS staff, the district used federal relief funds to launch a pilot at 46 schools to provide free on-demand mental health support for students. Dr. Oakley said within a month more than a thousand students signed up.
"Our school leaders and teachers have really embraced this idea around making strong mental health a part of the everyday school culture and so different schools are championing different events across the community and really showing that strong mental health in school is a part of how we operate and what we continue to value," Dr. Oakley said.
GCS employees who wish to take advantage of this service have received instructions on how to do so in their emails.
Before this rollout for GCS staff, the district used federal relief funds to launch a pilot at 46 schools to provide free on-demand mental health support for students. Dr. Oakley said within a month more than a thousand students signed up.
"Our school leaders and teachers have really embraced this idea around making strong mental health a part of the everyday school culture and so different schools are championing different events across the community and really showing that strong mental health in school is a part of how we operate and what we continue to value," Dr. Oakley said.
GCS employees who wish to take advantage of this service have received instructions on how to do so in their emails.