Health & Wellness

We believe that supporting our students holistically, with an important focus on social and emotional wellbeing, helps set the stage for any student’s academic success. The Co-op School offers various student wellness and support services that best meet the needs of each student we serve while celebrating their unique identities. Our elementary and middle school counseling and wellness programs help support our students’ socioemotional development as they learn and grow at school.

Starting in third grade, students participate in the Health and Wellness program, facilitated by our school counselor. Classes focus on creating a safe and supportive environment to provide students with accurate information and clear communication skills around human development, community, and socioemotional well-being. Elementary topics include boundaries and consent, puberty, gender identity, self-esteem, mindfulness, and digital safety.

In middle school, students study health and wellness topics related to adolescent development. Through empowerment-based discussions and activities, students explore a variety of physical, social, and emotional changes and challenges that affect them as adolescents and as members of society. Middle School topics include adolescent brain development, puberty, healthy body image, gender identity, human sexuality, consent, healthy relationships, coping skills, and digital literacy.

Parent Workshops

Each year, the Health and Wellness Parent Workshop series provides space for parents to receive support, connect with their parent community, and learn about a range of child and adolescent health and wellness topics. Workshops are facilitated by a combination of both The Co-op School faculty members and outside experts in the field. Examples of previous parent workshops include: Tackling Talks about Pleasure with Kids, Raising Your Child in the Digital Age, Supporting Your Teen/Tween’s Mental Health and Mindful Parenting Practices.

Student Counseling Support

Our school-based counseling program provides additional socio-emotional support to students. Parents can choose to sign students up to participate in either one-on-one counseling sessions to address individualized socioemotional goals or group counseling sessions with a unique set of goals and skill-building activities that support school functioning. Group counseling provides students with opportunities to connect with both themselves and their peers while targeting specific goals, including the development of emotional regulation strategies, social skills, and self-esteem.

Collaboration with Outside Support Providers

We partner with both families and outside support providers, including occupational therapists, speech therapists, executive functioning coaches, academic tutors, and psychotherapists, to ensure that we are most optimally supporting each student’s needs consistently across settings. We support families by providing outside referrals when necessary and collaborating with service providers through authorized communication with those providers when it is reasonable and appropriate to do so.