MIDDLEBORO — Almost 60% of Middleboro High School students have symptoms of anxiety and 50% of students have symptoms of depression, according to a presentation given at the Feb. 15 Middleboro School Committee meeting.

The data comes from a depression and anxiety screening that has been conducted at the Middleboro High School “for the past three years,” according to a presentation at a Feb. 15 school committee meeting by Director of Student Services Kevin Avitabile.

“At the high school they are being screened specifically for depression and anxiety,” Avitabile explained. “We are talking about large numbers of our students who are struggling in these areas, and we need to work on that.”

However, Avitabile cautioned that the screening data may be subject to “a margin of error.” 

“Considering that we are working with adolescents, whose mood and attitudes can vary on a daily basis, our primary focus is on identifying trends and developing interventions to support the overall mental health needs of our student population,” he explained.

Avitabile described a number of initiatives that the district was undertaking to improve mental health. 

“We have a partnership next year with William James University to provide an extra school psychologist,” Avitabile explained. He added that the university would be providing professional development for the district’s staff.

Avitabile said that the district provides resources to help families find professional mental health care for their children. One resource is a partnership with Community Counseling of Bristol County, who “provide us with two therapists who will work with students with family consent during the school day.”

“They work with families’ insurance and act as an outside therapist,” Avitabile explained, and the sessions are conducted during the school day. “This helps to provide clinical interventions to students who may not have access or ability to receive counseling outside of school,” he added.

Another resource the district provides is Care Solace, which helps families find clinicians who take insurance and who work outside of the district.

“Currently there have been a total of 134 cases, out of which 54 have successfully found providers that meet their preferences,” Avitabile said. “Presently we have six open cases that we are actively working on.”

He said that although “Care Solace remains committed to supporting families until they secure the services they need,” sometimes families may not ultimately find a provider through the service because “families may find services independently, lose interest, or experience change such as relocation.”

“As long as families express ongoing interest and need assistance, Care Solace will continue to collaborate with them in their search for suitable providers,” Avitabile added.

Another focus of the district is working with students in groups to address mental health challenges.

The High School also hired two new “adjustment counselors,” Avitabile said, who have helped implement “group intervention models” where students who are dealing with issues such as “ social anxiety, social skills [and] anxiety management” can interact with other students dealing with the same challenges.

The groups have “been helpful for a number of our students,” Avitabile explained. “They’re able to see that… there’s actually a number of students who are struggling with [the same] issues.”

Avitabile said that the groups were chosen by matching “students who share similar concerns or exhibit compatibility, ensuring an environment conducive to effective support and collaboration.” 

At Nichols Middle School, the district is also using a peer leadership training program from the Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center at Bridgewater State University to address a variety of topics, including bullying and “increasing positive peer to peer relationships.”

“I think kids listen to kids a lot better than they listen to adults,” Avitabile said. “So the more that we can get them…. working alongside adults the more success we're going to have.”

A flier for the program explained that “adolescents learn best from high-status peers” and that the program provides training to “a small leadership group” of students so those students can then implement programs for their classmates at their school.