PASCACK VALLEY AREA—With intense focus placed upon mental health services nationwide in the wake of recent mass shootings in schools and other public places, the Pascack Valley Regional High School District recently requested proposals from qualified mental health professionals to offer services for its high school students.
Meanwhile, the Westwood Regional School District is putting momentum from its May “Be Kind to Your Mind” initiative into new school community resources for the upcoming school year.
PVRHSD looking to add direct mental health services
District spokesperson Paul Zeller said a similar proposal was issued last year; this year’s solicitation, he said, is designed to address the mental health needs of students that have been increased and/or exacerbated by the pandemic..
The district serves families from Hillsdale, Montvale, River Vale, and Woodcliff Lake. Service proposals are due to district offices by July 29 at 11 a.m.
Zeller said the aim is to provide direct mental-health services to students and families; assist school staff via consultation and professional development workshops, and offer specific services, including suicide/violence risk assessments, family support and coaching, and well as psychological and neuropsychologic evaluations — and consultations for at-risk students.
He said, “The district has been receiving the services noted above from a contracted medical professional, which complement the mental health services provided through the district’s wellness centers and child study teams.”
And he said, “The district is quite happy with the services provided by our current contracted medical professional; however, due to anticipated costs and that the district will be using grant money to fund this professional service, the district is doing due diligence by putting out an RFP for the 2022–2023 school year.”
He declined to name the district’s current mental health provider nor say how much the current contract is worth “as it could impact the proposal process. Just like with bids, we will be more than happy to share this information after the RFP process is complete.”
The district will evaluate proposals based on the vendor’s general approach to providing required services (25%); documented experience in conducting professional workshops, individual/family therapy, IEP experience, and licenses/qualifications (25%); ability to complete Child Study Team initial evaluations (90 days) and reevaluations (60 days) (25%); and cost (25%).
Westwood Regional and ‘Be Kind to Your Mind’
In May, Mental Health Awareness Month, the K-12 Westwood Regional School District, serving families in the Township of Washington and Westwood, kicked off a“Be Kind to Your Mind” initiative. Spearheaded by superintendent Jill Mortimer, the project is anchored by a webpage providing resources for elementary, middle, and high school students and parents.
Warm messages of support and engagement are provided in a brief video featuring Mortimer, Westwood Police Chief Michael Pontillo (who also has a seat on the district board of education), Westwood Borough Council President Beth Dell, and Westwood Public Library Director Martha Urbiel.
“My goal is to provide high quality information, which was curated by our Care Plus clinicians, and to let students know their community supports them,” Mortimer told Pascack Press.
Students in grades 3–5 had “buddy classes” in the opposite town; each elementary school was equipped with a “coping box” that parents could replicate for home. Books about mental health were read in the Media Center classes.
“I had assistance from many valuable resources, including municipal dignitaries, Mrs. Collier’s high school marketing class, and Allaine Lara, a high school student who created the logo,” Mortimer said.
The “One WWRSD: Be Kind to Your Mind” initiative was intended to serve as the starting point for additional mental health programming in the district.
“Feedback from the last school year indicates some of our students could use additional support. That said, we turned our attention to what we can do to better serve their needs in the 2022-2023 school year,” Mortimer told us last week.
She said the district requested proposals for an elementary social and emotional program that will be implemented district-wide, landing on Responsive Classroom.
“According to the literature provided by the company, in order to be successful in and out of school, students need to learn a set of social and emotional competencies (cooperation, assertiveness, responsibility, empathy, and self-control) and a set of academic competencies (academic mindset, perseverance, learning strategies, and academic behaviors),” Mortimer said.
She said she and the elementary school principals visited the Wyckoff School District in spring to see the Responsive Classroom program in action. “Everyone was impressed.”
She said anticipated outcomes of the implementation of this program include improved academic performance, reduced emotional distress, and improved social behaviors.
She said K–5 staff will be provided with four days of professional development in order to learn the program. Three of the days will take place on days students are not in school.
Mortimer said principals are being trained this summer and that American Rescue Plan funds will be used to pay for the program.
“Responsive Classroom is an evidence-based product in that the program is highly rated by the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL). Everything I am electing to bring to the district is grounded in best practice research,” Mortimer said.
She added, “I take the mental health of our students seriously, and I am actively and consistently researching opportunities to build upon our existing measures. The district will inform parents about the program in great detail once the school year begins, and there will be a presentation to the Board of Education as well.”
On May 1, in the “One WWRSD: Be Kind to Your Mind” program debut, Mortimer wrote the school community to remind them that in her February report to the board she mentioned an email she received asking her to bring a “One Westwood” tone to her communication with the community.
She said she also had “heard a lot about concern for students’ mental health. I have listened, and I hope you like what I have created.”
She said, “Our students mean the world to us. It is so easy to get caught in the hustle and bustle of the days and weeks. I am going to ask everyone to pause and reflect on the importance of mental health.”
In addition to the in-class and web portal resources, the district followed with 31 days of mental health posts on its Facebook and Instagram accounts.
#EndTheStigma and HAGSAT Foundation
Mortimer also told us that when she was discussing the initiative with Liz Collier, a business teacher in the high school, the teacher shared about mental health struggles in her family.
In September 2020 her son, Greg Collier — who just started as business teacher at Westwood Regional Middle School — established a foundation, Happy and Good and Strong and Tough (HAGSAT), which focuses on raising awareness for suicide prevention and ending the stigma surrounding mental health.
“We believe that nobody should ever feel ashamed or embarrassed about who they are and what they feel. Everyone should be free to tell their story without having to worry about negative consequences. Together we can #EndtheStigma,” Collier says on the foundation website, https://hagsat.org. (Visit for volunteer opportunities and more.)
Mortimer told Pascack Press, “Liz and I bonded about common mental health experiences in our families when I asked her to meet with me. After we spoke, I reflected on the fact that the unexpected connection was a ‘meant to be’ moment. It furthered my resolve to promote mental health awareness.”
— With John Snyder