March 21st

Systemic Supports for Addressing Students’ Mental Health Needs

Morning Session: How to Improve Learning Environments to Better Address Social-Emotional Issues through the Lens of Neurodivergence

Presented by Dr. Sharon Saline

Dr. Sharon Saline is a licensed clinical psychologist with more than 30 years’ experience with expertise in ADHD, anxiety, learning differences and mental health challenges and their impact on school and family dynamics. Dr. Saline specializes in an integrative approach to managing challenges related to neurodiversity in children, teens and adults. In addition to running her her private practice, in Northampton, MA she has been a presenter and keynote speaker at numerous conferences and is the author of the book What Your ADHD Child Wishes You Knew. A magna cum laude graduate of Brown University, Dr. Saline received her master’s degree in psychology from New College of California and her doctorate in psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant University.

Afternoon Session: Seeing the System: Building a Foundation for a Comprehensive Approach to School Mental Health

In this session, Thriving Minds—a partnership of the bryt program, the Massachusetts School Mental Health Collaborative, and the Rennie Center for Education Research & Policy—will share an overview of the components of a comprehensive school mental health system, with a focus on how infrastructure and data are necessary supports for existing school-based interventions. Moving beyond the classic “MTSS triangle,” Thriving Minds will offer insights into how schools and districts can organize themselves to connect students with appropriate, evidence-based mental health services. The session will also dive into the fundamentals of needs assessment and resource mapping, offering entry points for practitioners to understand the current status of their system and begin to define steps toward a more comprehensive approach to school mental health. Throughout, presenters will share practical resources and guidance that allow participants to apply their learning to their own settings, allowing for immediate connections between theory and practice.

Presented by John Crocker, Director of School Mental Health and Behavioral Services in Methuen Public Schools/Founder and Director of the Massachusetts School Mental Health Consortium

John Crocker has worked in public education for fifteen years, primarily as the administrator for the Methuen Public Schools Counseling Department. He has overseen the planning and implementation of the “Mental Health Initiative,” which has focused on the establishment of a comprehensive school mental health system (CSMHS) in partnership with the National Center for School Mental Health (NCSMH). John has worked with the NCSMH as a member of the National School Mental Health Task Force and as the Massachusetts team leader for the National Coalition for the State Advancement of School Mental Health (NCSA-SMH).

In his role as the director of school mental health & behavioral services, he is charged with overseeing the district-wide implementation and evaluation of Methuen’s CSMHS and positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS). His work has focused on developing a district-wide system of universal mental health screening, advancing the use of psychosocial data to inform school mental health staff’s therapeutic practice, and the development and evaluation of the CSMHS in Methuen. He has worked to scale up evidence-based therapeutic services across Methuen through the provision of district-wide professional development and the design and implementation of group- and individual-therapy programs.

Mr. Crocker founded the Massachusetts School Mental Health Consortium (MASMHC), a group of approximately one-hundred and fifty school districts across Massachusetts committed to advocating for and implementing quality and sustainable school mental health services and supports. Most recently, MASMHC co- led the Massachusetts Collaborative for Improvement and Innovation Network (CoIIN) for Comprehensive School Mental

Health, the School Mental Health Leadership Institute, and Thriving Minds, a professional development series focused on building comprehensive school mental health systems. He received the National Center for School Mental Health’s School Mental Health Champion Award in 2018 and was nominated the 2019 Massachusetts School Counselors Association (MASCA) Administrator of the Year, the 20-21 Massachusetts Parent Teacher Association (PTA) Counselor of the Year, and the 2021 Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) Michael J. Kane Wellness Award recipient.