The following content was included in a brochure that was mailed to residents in December 2024.
- Education
- Connections
- Responsive Services
- School Counseling Care Team
- Who to Contact
- Counseling Staff Contacts
- Professional Development
The Fayetteville-Manlius School District supports the social-emotional learning and development of all students through education, activities, and training for students, parents, and staff.
The district has a number of initiatives in place to support the emotional health and wellness of all F-M school community members.
This brochure is designed to give you a snapshot of our school counseling team’s roles and activities. While our team members have a variety of responsibilities, they all support the emotional health and well-being of our students and staff in three primary ways: educating, making connections, and providing responsive services.
The counseling team is committed to the district’s vision of promoting all students’ personal success, which includes their emotional health. During this school year, we will be sharing more information on our website and with you directly around emotional health and wellness and the resources available to you and your family.
Education
Educating students about their mental health is important so they can effectively express and manage their emotions in ways that support their overall well-being. Students should also be able to identify when and how to seek help.
Activities that Promote Awareness
- District Mental Health Educator Dominick Melara will be facilitating crisis team meetings and trainings in each building, providing students, parents, and staff research-based mental health education, and fostering a positive mental health community.
- New in the 2024-25 school year, our school counseling team hosts monthly “Lunch & Learn” virtual series, introducing parents to local resources and agencies.
- High school counseling staff and representatives from outside agencies teach students about emotional wellness, suicide prevention, and how to manage stress and anxiety.
- Middle school counseling staff talk with students about such topics as practicing positive decision-making, identifying and using coping skills, and creating healthy relationships. They teach lessons on self-awareness, communication skills, mental health, anxiety, depression, and suicide awareness.
- Elementary classroom lessons focus on teaching skills for learning, empathy, emotion regulation, problem solving, and bullying prevention.
- High school students participate in suicide awareness programs, including our annual “Out of the Darkness” walk that takes place each June on the high school track.
- Our 2024-25 Community Big Read book, “Never Enough,” allows parents, staff, and community members to talk about achievement culture and its impact on our students.
- Parent programs have been offered that focus on topics such as anxiety, depression, suicide prevention, eating disorders, and substance abuse.
- Counseling staff in each school help coordinate and lead Wellness Day activities that focus on relieving and managing student stress.
Connections
Building connections between students and their school is important so they feel comfortable and safe. There is a direct relationship between a student’s feelings of physical and emotional safety and their ability to learn and thrive.
Strategies that Foster Relationships
- New in the 2024-25 school year, Mental Health Clinics provided by Helio Health will be available at the middle and high schools to reduce travel time for students who receive therapeutic support outside of school. The district provides space for these clinics, but clinicians will bill families’ insurance plans.
- One Promise Zone specialist is stationed in each elementary school building to support students with emotional or behavioral challenges. They focus on collaborative problem solving, in-class support, and de-escalation.
- Student Assistance Counselors serve the middle and high school buildings to help offer students social and emotional support and improve access to substance abuse prevention, treatment, and recovery services.
- Counseling staff host orientation programs for students and their families when students transition to kindergarten, middle school, and high school.
- Counselors introduce themselves in classrooms, small groups, or individually so students know who they are, how they can help, and how to contact them.
- Family-school liaisons work directly with families to create a positive, supportive relationship between home and school. They frequently connect families with outside agencies and organizations.
- There are 18 therapy dogs across the district working to greet students in the morning, visit classrooms, and spend time with students who may be having a difficult day.
- School counselors frequently advise student clubs, coach athletic teams, chaperone field trips, and attend school events and activities so they can engage with students and their families beyond the school day.
Responsive Services
It is important to be able to identify and respond to students’ mental health needs so that they feel supported as they meet the daily challenges that arise in and out of school.
Actions that Support Well-Being
- The Mental Health Task Force, created in the 2023-24 school year, will continue its efforts. The task force is facilitated by Dr. Melissa Carman, the CEO/Founder of CNY Mental Health Counseling, PLLC, and Dr. Cory Wallack, the Counseling Center Director at Syracuse University.
- In the district’s most recent School Culture and Climate Survey, three-quarters of students stated they had a trusted adult they could talk to at school if they were struggling socially or emotionally. The district will continue these surveys in the 2024-25 school year to help inspire change and will compare data year to-year.
- Counseling team members at all levels support students in crisis. They listen non-judgmentally, assess the situation, consider signs, symptoms and risk factors, give reassurance, share information/resources, encourage self-care, consult with parents, teachers, administrators, and provide referrals to outside professionals.
- A 20-minute Wellness Break is included in every high school student’s schedule. Students report that they use the time to eat, relax, check their phones, study, begin homework, and catch up with their friends.
- At the elementary and middle schools, school counselors hold support groups for students during lunch periods so there is no impact to students’ academic schedules. The groups focus on such topics as stress management, identifying feelings, how to be a friend, self-esteem building and coping with divorce in their family.
- The district has implemented the BIMAS-2 to assess student wellbeing. Based on results, students are provided varied levels and intensity of support, such as individual or group meetings, referrals to outside therapists, and/or enrollment in mentoring programs.
School Counseling Care Team
There are people in each school building that students and their families can connect with for mental health support.
- Each elementary school has a school counselor, school psychologist, Family School Liaison, and Promise Zone Specialist.
- Each middle school has two school counselors, a school psychologist, Family School Liaison, and either a Student Assistance Counselor or Mental Health Clinician.
- F-M High School has seven school counselors, a school psychologist, Family School Liaison, and Student Assistance Counselor.
- There is one district psychologist and one mental health educator who support all schools.
Each member of the counseling team has an important impact on the emotional health and wellbeing of students. There is some overlap in services and some distinctions as well. Regardless of titles, counseling staff members work as a team, regularly collaborating to support students and families.
Who to Contact
Any student who needs mental health support, or a family member concerned about their student, should reach out first to the student’s designated school counselor, whose contact information may be found on the district website. The school counselor will determine what supports are necessary and either help the student directly or refer them to another counseling staff member or an outside resource that could meet the identified needs.
Counseling Staff Contacts
- Enders Road Elementary School
- 315-692-1501
- Fayetteville Elementary School
- 315-692-1601
- Mott Road Elementary School
- 315-692-1701
- Eagle Hill Middle School
- 315-692-1401
- Wellwood Middle School
- 315-692-1301
- Fayetteville-Manlius High School
- 315-692-1801
Professional Development
Counseling staff members participate in a variety of mental health training. Some examples of topics covered include:
- Anxiety and stress management
- Suicide and self-harm
- Coping with grief and loss
- Identity and gender expression (LGBTQIA+)
- Understanding and managing emotions
- Common mental illness among children and adolescents
- Eating disorders
- Strengthening relationships
- Substance use and abuse
- Impact of divorce on students and families