Children, teachers, and staff spend a significant amount of time in their school buildings – 1,000 hours a year, actually. While school is a place of learning and growth, it can also be an opportunity to foster positive mental health habits.

Statics tell us that 85% of children in need of mental and behavioral health supports do not receive them. So when Clairton City School District approached Staunton Farm Foundation for operational funding to improve behavioral health services in their schools, the importance of the project was clear.

Over a two-year period, Clairton School District is partnering with Allegheny Health Network’s Chill Project, Awaken Pittsburgh, and Carnegie Mellon University’s Health and Human Performance Lab to create a synergistic model driving behavioral health access, education, supportive services and reduction in stigma for students, educators and caregivers.