How are students truly feeling as they navigate through their day—from the moment they step into the school building to the time they leave?

Focus on this to improve the school environment...

Create Architecture for Happiness

School and its spaces can be both a place of respite and a zone where the pressures of social dynamics or personal trauma are intensified, with lasting impacts on student mental health. Understanding why school culture and environment should change is easier than understanding how to change. But there are some things we can focus on at the ecosystem level to improve the school environment.
Reimagining spaces with a student-centered preventative lens can help create a more inclusive and supportive school culture, where emotional well-being is embedded not just in programs, but in the very architecture and flow of the school day. Schools after all are more than just places for learning. Schools like Dream Charter Schools, a Wellness Classroom grantee, are already designed to be vital hubs for social interaction, personal growth, and mental health support.
Support Positive and Joyful Student Experiences

Both schools and programs can consider what elements create a nurturing environment where students can thrive. Even small changes can go a long way. For example, iRaise, a Wellness Classroom grantee, dedicates a space called ‘Our Corner’ within each of the schools they are in. ‘Our Corner’ fosters a nurturing environment where students can thrive emotionally, socially, and academically. This designated supportive and supervised wellness room empowers youth to become well-rounded individuals equipped to handle life's challenges with confidence and resilience through emotional safety, coping mechanisms, emotional literacy, positive behavior, and resilience building.
Provide Space for Expressing Students' Emotions

To bring the mental health journey into physical spaces in schools, we need to rethink how students engage with mental health support. An excellent example of addressing this gap is the Coping Toolkit initiative by Black Girls Smile, one of our grantees. This initiative provides students with physical tools to help manage their emotions, transforming abstract mental health concepts into something tangible that students can interact with daily. Tools like stress balls, journals, and affirmations are part of this toolkit, turning feelings into something students can hold, see, and use. This strategy empowers students to better understand and manage their mental health. Anyone can provide these resources to students.

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Do you remember feeling this way:

Did you ever cry in the bathroom?

My friend helped me feel better in the stairwell.

I don't want to wait in line with them.

I don't think they really care about my feelings.

I feel alone.

Seeing you all at lunch helps.

Did you hear what they said about me outside class?

No one sits next to me in the cafe.

Do you remember feeling this way: Did you ever cry in the bathroom? My friend helped me feel better in the stairwell. I don't want to wait in line with them. I don't think they really care about my feelings. I feel alone. Seeing you all at lunch helps. Did you hear what they said about me outside class? No one sits next to me in the cafe.

Mental Health Experience Between the School Bells

The Wellness Classroom partnered with Chandani Punia from Immersive Consulting to facilitate our student-centered perspective on mental health in schools.
We revisited our own school experiences to ask:

How do students navigate their physical & emotional states in school?

We discovered that unstructured or liminal areas within schools—like stairwells, hallways, and locker rooms—played a significant role in shaping our well-being. In the context of NYC schools, students may be receiving help and enrolled in mental health programs at school but their overall school experience and social dynamic within this environment might be unaddressed.
We reflected that our own mental health struggles at school were internalized, with no tangible reminders or tools to carry us through difficult days. This struggle might be felt by New York City students as well.

Why does this matter for improving mental health in schools?

It is not enough to assume that academic support, programs, and counseling address needs. We should always be asking: How are the school environment, social dynamics, academic pressures, and even transitional spaces like hallways and cafeterias impacting the students’ overall well-being?
We must consider a holistic approach that supports not just the intellectual growth but also the emotional and psychological health of students to prepare them for their future.