This includes creating a positive climate that supports equity and diversity for all students. Understanding how to establish healthy relationships includes valuing and nurturing the multiple identities of students, and helps students feel safer and more connected to their schools.

This includes teaching how to respect alternative viewpoints, using effective communication skills and cooperative behavior in groups, and understanding that communication involves speaking, listening and nonverbal behavior.

Students will be reassured that there are adults who can help them navigate school and personal situations. Staff will encourage students to seek out an adult they trust and are comfortable talking with. Students will also learn how to help others in need.

The ability to use healthy mental and emotional knowledge, skills and strategies to enhance one’s self-concept and one’s relationship with others is the goal for developing emotional well-being.

Identifying, developing and practicing stress-management skills will help to foster healthy mental and emotional well-being.

Each year, MCPS recognizes Mental Health Awareness Week to give youth and families the opportunity to hear from mental health experts about topics impacting children and to learn about resources that support students’ physical, social and psychological well-being.

Signs of Suicide Prevention Program teaches students the warning signs of emotional distress and how they can help themselves or a friend if they are concerned about possible harm to self. This program has demonstrated an improvement in students’ knowledge and attitudes toward suicide risk and depression, as well as a reduction in actual suicide attempts.
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Our Minds Matter (OMM) is a non-profit organization working toward the day when no teens die by suicide. Based on an upstream prevention approach, OMM clubs promote school-wide social connectedness, encourage help-seeking behavior and the use of positive coping skills among peers, all while serving as a link between students and existing school/community mental health resources. This club model fosters a school environment in which teens have increased mental wellness and a decreased risk of suicide. Since its launch in 2016, OMM has grown to be the leading provider of adolescent peer-to-peer mental health programming in the DC Metro Area (DMV). Today, OMM supports over 100 clubs nationwide.
Apply to start an Our Minds Matter club today, MCPS club applications are accepted on a rolling basis.

Learning the impacts of ACEs—such as abuse, neglect and household dysfunction—is important to understand how to best support children, and ensure safe and nurturing relationships.

Resiliency is the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats or other sources of stress. Resilient people have certain traits in common, such as optimism, flexibility, self-confidence, self-control and perseverance. These skills can be taught and strengthened.

Mindfulness is the ability to be aware of where we are and what we are doing, and not being overly reactive or overwhelmed by what is going on around us. To learn more about the practice of Mindfulness and its benefits, to participate in Mindfulness activities, and to explore additional resources, please visit our NEW Mindfulness website.

A community circle is a carefully constructed, intentional dialogue space, and can help improve relationships between staff and students, students and peers, and staff and peers. This is one way to build cognitive empathy.

These circles works to resolve conflicts so that all parties feel the outcome is just and fair. It allows students to take responsibility for their actions and to be part of the decision making around what should happen to repair the harm that was caused.

The Restorative Justice Student Leadership Coalition is a team of students who learn how to facilitate community circles, and engage in other restorative practices, including mindfulness and self-care.

Emphasizes lifelong positive health-related attitudes and behaviors that promote self-reliance and self-regulation for all students. Life skills include goal-setting; decision-making; identifying beliefs, attitudes, and motivations; assessing information; and advocacy for personal, family and community health.

Information on Health Education Lessons

Focuses on the development of health-related fitness, movement skills and concepts, and personal and social responsibility. The learning tasks in physical education emphasize problem-solving, decision-making, goal-setting and relationship building skills.

Information on Physical Education Lessons

Grade-level, age-appropriate content for students in every grade from Pre-K to 12. These lessons are designed to empower students to recognize and report suspected cases of abuse without fear of reprisal.

Information on Personal Body Safety Lessons

A framework for creating safer and more effective schools by building a better environment through positive disciplinary practices

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Prevention and intervention strategies to make schools safe, welcoming, and positive places to learn

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The practice of being safe, smart and ethical while online. The MCPS curriculum covers issues such as privacy, cyberbullying, internet safety and other digital dilemmas.

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