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Oxford School District Collaboration on Student Mental Health

Oxford, Mississippi (December 13, 2023) — The Oxford School District has entered into a three-year collaboration with the logoBaylor University Center for School Leadership and the National Center for School-University Partnerships in the area of student mental health and drug use prevention with administrators, counselors, and teachers from six school districts in north Mississippi.

Bradley Roberson, Oxford School District Superintendent, is the program coordinator for the National Center for School-University Partnerships, and the project is funded through a grant from the Office of National Drug Control Policy in partnership with the William Magee Institute. “We know any improvement will happen with teams of school leaders – teachers, administrators, and counselors working together to develop contextualized interventions, curriculum, and measurable improvement goals,” said Roberson.

Mississippi schools participating in the project with the middle and high school teams are North Tippah School District, South Tippah School District, Oxford School District, Booneville School District, Pontotoc County School District, and Tishomingo School District.

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The three-year plan for the project includes key personnel from Baylor University. Year one will provide support to the network of schools working with the Magee Institute to develop curriculum focused on thriving/flourishing, healthy habits, and substance abuse prevention strategies. Year two and three will focus on the implementation of curriculum in pilot schools while conducting a cluster randomized trial. 

“We see this aligning with student connectedness work and breakthrough communities. Using an improvement science approach to the development of curriculum materials, intervention, and evaluation will allow smaller teams of educators from participating schools to develop the necessary tools to pilot in diverse school settings,” said Roberson. 

The project, launched in September 2023, includes school leadership professionals and key collaborative leaders from the respective schools and will convene three times during the 2023-2024 school year.

Heather Lenard