School psychologists, pupil personnel workers, guidance counselors, and other staff with expertise in crisis intervention and support are working to provide critical mental health assistance for students, families, and staff of the Montgomery County Public Schools in a comprehensive response to the continuing attacks in the Washington area.

The work is being conducted in collaboration with the Montgomery County Crisis Center, the Mental Health Association, and others to help children and adults cope with the stress and uncertainty of the crisis, with plans being made for the implications of a continuing emergency.

The effort to address mental health issues -- emotional, intellectual, physical, and behavioral reactions to stress -- has emerged as a major priority for the school system, especially since the ongoing threat has so disrupted regular school system functions.

Specially prepared materials are now available on the school system’s newly redesigned website at the link below, detailing tips for specific kinds of stress. These tips include helping children cope with random community violence, helping adults cope with cumulative stress, and developing resiliency in the face of adversity.

Three new television programs are being telecast on the school system’s cable television channel (Cable Channel 34), including one in multiple languages, that offer strategies and resources parents can use to help their children cope with stress through the current crisis.

The efforts are designed, in part, to help stabilize and maintain school system instructional programs at a time when stress and distractions are disrupting the expected processes of teaching and learning. The implementation of Code Blue restrictions and the cancellation of outdoor student activities, for example, while a necessary safety and security measure, must be dealt with as possible causes themselves of emotional unease and stress.

The school system has organized teams of school psychologists and pupil personnel workers who are working with principals, teachers, and guidance counselors. Volunteers from the professional mental health community in Montgomery County also are being organized to provide assistance, much in the manner that volunteers assisted schools following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

Daily letters home to parents, students, and staff from Dr. Jerry D. Weast, superintendent of schools, also are providing constant reassurance and information about the unfolding events. The most recent letter yesterday [Friday, October 11] announced that more than 1,100 parent and community volunteers helped elementary schools on Thursday with student safety while walking to school. The number of volunteers swelled to more than 1,400 on Friday.

“These are times that require courage, not bravery and heroics, but just the emotional strength to do what is right in the face of worry and fear,” said Dr. Weast in the Friday letter.

“Hopefully, the crisis will end soon, but in reality we must be prepared for a lengthy task,” Dr. Weast said. “I ask my staff to do the same things that I expect of myself -- get plenty of rest each night, stay close to family and friends, find encouragement in the beauty of life’s unexpected gifts, and be prepared for the stress of the unknown.”