Middle School Wellness Centers
“We have had over 1100 visits to the wellness center, most of which are self referred. Students feel safe and comfortable with wellness staff.”
Middle school is a critical stage in a student’s life and education, the "make it or break it" years when some students may begin to disengage, increasing the likelihood of dropping out of high school. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated this dynamic.
In 2021, through the generosity of an anonymous donor and in partnership with the SF Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF), Spark funded the SFUSD Middle School Beacon Wellness Centers Mental Health Initiative. The initiative expands mental health services through the establishment of new Wellness Centers in every SFUSD middle school and three K-8 schools. The initiative rollout came at a crucial time for middle schoolers as they returned to school in-person. Particularly with the challenging impact of the pandemic, we are heartened by the progress made in scaling this critical initiative and ensuring it is sustained for the future.
The initiative is powering groundbreaking and innovative work in an area previously uncharted. Throughout the pilot year and second year, SFUSD continued to iterate, adapt and develop what will be a replicable model for wellness and mental health services in middle schools in other school districts across the nation providing services such as crisis intervention, one-on-one ongoing counseling, case management, health education, mental health related groups, health and wellness activities and family partnership services.
“My experience when inside the wellness center has been great. The staff is really great and really helpful. It feels like a safe environment. If you get hurt they help. They help people cool down if they are stressed.”
Current Year Updates
Expanded to six additional middle schools: Everett, Bessie Carmichael, Paul Revere, Buena Vista Horace Mann, Denman, and Presidio. Along with the two pilot schools Visitacion Valley and Francisco the second year cohort had 8 schools in it.
A total of 12,615 total unique services were provided, of those, 12,499 were school-based and 116 were centrally-based.
47 community organizations participated throughout the year. Services included individual and group counseling, case management services, tutoring, family engagement and partnership, crisis response, and medical, vision, and dental clinics.
When fully scaled, the initiative is projected to serve students in all of SFUSD’s 13 middle schools and three K-8 schools over a 4 to 5 year period.