How do we promote mental wellness in our school system?

• Daily use of Rhithm, an app that helps students and staff monitor their overall wellbeing via daily wellness check-ins
• Classroom lessons led by school counselors that teach students strategies and skills to promote wellbeing, such as making healthy choices, communicating effectively, calming down when angry or anxious, and resolving conflict
• Aggie Advocates provide academic, social, and emotional support and connect students and families to needed community resources
• ACS Foundation's Ready to Learn program provides clothing, shoes, hygiene supplies, and other items for students in need and promotes mental wellness by meeting physical needs
• Therapy dog visits
• Uprise Health newsletters and services available to ACS employees to inform and promote mental wellness

The Aggie Advocacy Center promotes social and emotional well-being among Albertville City Schools' students, families and staff by connecting students and families to resources that meet their physical and emotional needs. Our team of Aggie Advocates work in coordination with school counselors to identify and support students in need of additional resources. Aggie Advocates encourage and support students at each school through in-person conversations, activities, and mentoring. We partner with the Albertville City Schools Foundation's Ready to Learn program to provide clothing and shoes for students in need and to meet other specific student needs. We also partner with Shepherd's Cove Hospice to provide in-school grief counseling to students who have experienced the death of a loved one, as well as Mountain Lakes Behavioral Healthcare to provide school-based mental health counseling. Both grief counseling and in-school mental health counseling require parent/guardian permission to participate. While most services are provided within the school buildings, the center provides a comfortable setting for families to discuss their needs and available resources. It is located at 202 East Alabama Avenue in Albertville.