Wellness Center Hours
Middle Schools
Tuesdays Grand Avenue - Tuesdays - 2:45-4:45 Merrick Avenue - Mondays - 3:00-5:00 High Schools Wednesdays Calhoun - 2:30-4:30 Mepham - 3:00-5:00 Kennedy - 3:00-5:00 |
Responding to the growing mental health need in the adolescent population even prior to COVID-19, the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District launched Wellness Centers in each of their 3 high schools, soon followed by their middle schools. The Wellness Centers are an enhanced redesign of what used to be referred to as the Guidance Department. After making changes to the physical layout of the different Wellness Center spaces in each of the buildings and centralizing all PPS team members, the District launched a rebranding campaign to bring awareness to the supports and services being offered in this one central location with expanded after-school hours.
The Wellness Centers offer students and families: • After school hours • Short-term counseling • Additional time for college and career planning • Counseling groups (i.e. social skills, disability groups, sibling groups, bereavement, mindfulness, parent groups) • Connection with community services • Psychiatric evaluation and consultation to parents and school teams Keeping in mind the extensive research on student success and well being highlighting the importance of having at least one adult whom students feel connected in the school building, the District invested and sought to decrease the student to staff ratio for school counselors and the school mental health professionals. With additional staffing the Wellness Centers are now open until approximately 5:00PM staffed with at least 3 members of each school’s Pupil Personnel Services (PPS) team. The final component to this district wide wellness initiative was the development of our relationship with Northwell South Oaks Hospital who are contracted by the District to provide referrals, psychiatric evaluations, and consultation to the school community. -Eric Arlin, Director of Special Education and Pupil Personnel Services (May 2021) |