A NYC mental health investment & learning collaborative

The Wellness Classroom was founded in late 2022 to catalyze a systemically relevant and sustainable blueprint for implementing promising mental health and well-being interventions in New York City K-12 schools.

This year, we are working with our team, program providers, funders, and school administrators to learn and share our knowledge and ideas for anyone who cares about wellness in educational spaces.

The Problem

The mental health crisis is one of the most urgent public health issues in New York City following the COVID-19 pandemic. School-based interventions can have a significant impact, giving New York City’s school district, the largest in the US, an excellent opportunity to deliver increasingly urgent mental health support to students.  However, existing mental health interventions are more reactive rather than preventive.  Schools often do not have the time or resources to test and evaluate the most effective preventive mental health programming to bring over their existing work

The Solution

There is an opportunity for philanthropy to step in to relieve the growing burden, identify, support, and evaluate new and innovative approaches, and create a model and repertoire of effective programs that schools can adopt. To reach this goal, The Wellness Classroom will pilot and test dozens of programs in schools and community-based organizations to learn what works, in what settings, and whether the programs are scalable, sustainable, and ultimately fundable with government and private/public insurance funding. These programs will support the entire school ecosystem — including students, their caregivers, and educators.

Our Grantees

  • Black Girls Smile

  • The Jed Foundation

  • Healing Schools Project

  • Child Mind Institute

  • The Arthur Project

  • NYC Outward Bound Schools

  • Dream Charter Schools

  • Robin

  • The Urban Assembly

  • Weird Enough Productions

  • I'RAISE

  • Insights & Innovations

Meet the Team

  • Sarah Holloway

    Co-Founder

    Sarah Holloway has 30 years of experience in the US education sector and is currently on the faculty of the Columbia’s School of International & Public Affairs and Senior Fellow for Social Impact at Columbia Entrepreneurship. Sarah has been working at the intersection of K-12 education and equity and is the co-founder of Mouse.org and CSforALL.

  • Anke Ehlert

    Director

    Anke Ehlert recently earned her MBA at Columbia Business School, focusing on social impact and enterprise. She spent the six years prior at the intersection of K-12 education and poverty. Anke’s work includes teaching elementary school through Teach For America in Detroit, MI and managing the largest qualitative research study on poverty in The United States out of Stanford’s Center on Poverty and Inequality.

Advisory Board

  • Eric Weingartner

    Co-Founder of The Wellness Classroom and President and CEO of The Overbrook Foundation

  • Angela Diaz

    Chief, Division of Adolescent Medicine and Director, Mt Sinai Adolescent Health Center & Dean for Global Health, Social Justice, and Human Rights at Mt Sinai School of Medicine

  • John MacPhee

    CEO of The Jed Foundation

  • David Adams

    CEO of Urban Assembly

  • Michael Preston

    Executive Director, Joan Ganz Cooney Center @ Sesame Workshop

  • Prerna Arora

    Associate Professor of Psychology and Education in the Department of Health and Behavior Studies at Teachers College, Columbia University

Research Fellows

  • Caroline Flaherty

  • Chandani Punia

  • Madeline Rosenberg

  • Sofia Suarez

  • Yeena Yoona

Contact Us!