LYNN — A new program at Lynn Classical High School is aimed at helping students transition back into their classes after a hospitalization for a mental disorder.
The program, Bridge for Resilient Youth in Transition (BRYT), which partners with schools and families to get teens back on track after prolonged absences, rolled out this year at Lynn Classical.
“We know that people who struggle with mental illness have a harder time than their peers, (with) increased academic and social expectations as you’re returning,” said Carolyn Troy, Lynn Public Schools executive director of social and emotional learning. “We were hoping a transition program would alleviate some of that.
“We know that reentry back into school after hospitalization can be stressful. (The transition period) can provide academic and clinical accommodation to break down their reentry into manageable chunks so we’re providing the best reentry possible.”
With the program, students transitioning back to Classical will spend four to 12 weeks in a special classroom setting, where they’ll receive academic support from a teacher and clinical support from a social worker. The latter support includes counseling aimed at easing them back into school socially, according to Troy.
The BRYT model is being paid for by a four-year $200,000 Comprehensive School Health Services Grant that Lynn Public Schools received through the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health last spring, according to Troy.
“We chose Classical to be the initial site,” Troy said, noting the grant was only good for one school. “It seemed to make sense because Classical already has an established support system for students, (with a) guidance counselor and social worker. It seemed like it was really poised to have this program come in.”
The district will determine if there’s a need to expand the program to its two other high schools, but there hasn’t been planning for how much that would cost or where the funding would come from, Troy said.
The majority of students serviced by the BRYT program at Lynn Classical will be those who have had extended absences because of a hospitalization for mental illness, such as anxiety or depression. Some spots will be reserved for providing support to students who are struggling emotionally and may be on the cusp of needing to be hospitalized, Troy said.
The district has not started keeping statistics on how many students have required hospitalization, but nationwide stats shared by the director of the BRYT program, Paul Hyry-Dermith, shows the necessity of the program.
Over the past 20 years, the number of students hospitalized for psychiatric disorders has increased by nearly 300 percent. Roughly half of all psychiatric disorders begin in the teenage years. Fifty percent of students aged 14 and over diagnosed with emotional and/or behavioral disorders drop out of school, and suicide is attempted 3,041 times each day by youth in grades 9-12 nationwide, Hyry-Dermith said.
In Massachusetts, the BRYT program has been implemented in five high schools in Boston, and schools in Salem, Lawrence, Lowell, Framingham, Malden, and Somerville, among other districts.
BRYT claims that 85 percent of the students serviced in its transition program graduate.
“I’m excited any time we can provide support services for students,” Troy said. “I would say the best case scenario is it would be a solid program that we are able to provide the clinical and academic coordination to students that would help them achieve the academic success and overall well-being that we want for all of our kids. If we can be one piece in the puzzle for all of our students, then we’ve done our jobs.”
