PEABODY — Mayor Ted Bettencourt addressed the community and shared progress updates for Peabody PROMISE: a community initiative launched earlier this fall to strengthen local support and resources for mental wellness, bullying prevention, and suicide prevention.
He first reminded all those in attendance of the brand behind PROMISE and what its acronym stands for:
- Preventing suicide
- Reducing stigma
- Offering support
- Making meaningful change
- Investing in mental health
- Standing against bullying
- Empowering the community
The steps PROMISE has taken thus far include:
- Building a web domain to make resources — such as a form to report bullying within Peabody Public Schools, a list of coping strategies, PROMISE meeting minutes, and links to various bullying prevention programs like Boston vs. Bullies and The NAN Project — more accessible.
- Opening the Higgins Middle School student resource center, which is in a private area next to the nurse’s office and is run by clinicians who have, through October, received referrals for 29 students, 10 of which came following the signs of suicide screening for seventh graders, and provided 122 counseling visits; there have also been 33 students who have used the center’s drop-in services for a total of 57 drop-in visits during the first two months of school.
- Partnering with the BLOOM App to provide free mental health and behavioral care, as well as opportunities to connect with more than 350 leading experts across health and wellness, to Peabody’s residents, with the hope of ensuring everyone has access to stigma-free support.
- Creating a Behavioral Assessment Team — a multidisciplinary group at Higgins that meets weekly to understand and improve student behavior and promote a positive school climate — composed of a school administrator, guidance counselor, teacher, school resource officer, and nurse to review bullying cases.
“More work’s going to be needed by all of us, but I do believe that we’ve taken a good start and really put some important things in place that are going to help our students and families,” Bettencourt said.
He then specifically mentioned initiatives the BAT has accomplished since its inception:
- Reviewed PPS’ existing policies and procedures related to bullying and behavior interventions to make sure they comply with all state requirements; provided policy suggestions to the School Committee.
- Emphasized the need for a new Social and Emotional Learning curriculum; selected a program that spans grades K-12 to ensure students receive consistent language, themes, and skill-building throughout all school years.
And there is still much on the horizon for the BAT.
For one, Bettencourt explained that the team will be creating a flow chart for parents to help them understand the actions PPS takes when bullying is reported, and it will include time frames for parents so they know when to expect forward movement throughout the process.
The BAT will also be developing a roll-out plan to support smooth implementation of the new SEL program, which Bettencourt said is expected to be implemented in January 2026.
“I’m really grateful for so many people… in this audience and others across our city that just continue to help out and volunteer and show up at an event… Whatever the issue or whatever the activity is, we have people there willing to help out and donate and dedicate their time, which is terrific,” Bettencourt said.
He then went on to specifically thank Cely Rosario — the sister of Jason Bernard, the 14-year-old Higgins student who died by suicide in May due to bullying — and her family for “their leadership, their guidance, and their heart, (which) have played an integral part in the work here.”
