Health and Wellness

Social and emotional skills are critical to being a good student, citizen and worker. We value your child’s well-being as much as we value their academic success.

Health and Wellness Programs  | Health and Wellness Resources | Parent Education Programs | FAQs | FWCD Health and Wellness Team 
Praesidium Hotline | The Safe School Helpline

We care for and develop the whole child. To best support these objectives, FWCD provides each school division with its own Health and Wellness Counselor.

Students’ abilities to learn and maximize their potential depend not just on instruction but on the quality of a safe and nurturing environment. The FWCD climate, sense of belonging with peers, positive relationships with educators, and the feedback they receive all contribute to the overall academic landscape.

Health and Wellness Counselors in each division strive to foster the social-emotional health and wellness of students through an organized set of programs, activities, policies, and procedures that protect and promote the health and well-being of all JK-12 students in the FWCD community.

A safe, supportive and nurturing environment is one of the most essential elements to fostering positive emotions for growth and expression.

Our mental health professionals are licensed, full-time employees with significant training and experience in counseling education and program development. Emotional and social services FWCD Health and Wellness Counselors provide include:

• Individual guidance as needed to process personal concerns
• Assistance to families in accessing treatment in serious situations
• Crisis management (consultation, counseling or referrals) in times of distress (death, divorce or other stressful life experiences) as an individual, family or community
• Service as a liaison with the counseling and treatment community
• Collaboration with parents on typical age-appropriate behavior and parenting challenges
• Training in life and social skills appropriate to each grade level
• Assistance in conflict resolution to students
• Guidance and information to the Parent Faculty Association on relevant topics and issues for programming

FWCD’s counseling services are primarily short-term, temporary services aimed at facilitating a more effective educational environment and acclimating students to the School community. The Health and Wellness Counselors provide crisis intervention and periodic consultation during normal school hours. These services are not intended as a substitute for a prescribed program of psychological intervention.

Health and Wellness Programs at-a-Glance

Health and Wellness Counselors work with students individually and in small groups by division to explore personal, academic or social struggles they may be experiencing. Students are referred to the counselor by a teacher, by a parent or by self-referral. In addition to being a resource for students, the counselor is available to parents and faculty/staff.

Counseling services are primarily short-term, temporary services aimed at facilitating more effective education and socialization of students within the School community. The counselor provides crisis intervention and periodic consultation during normal school hours. These services are not intended as a substitute for a prescribed program of psychological intervention or a comprehensive psychological, educational or medical evaluation by an outside professional. Learn more about division programs below.

Health and Wellness Resources

General

• Childmind
• The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry - Psychiatric Medication
• The American Academy of Pediatrics
• The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Resource Centers
• Cook Children’s
• The National Eating Disorders Association
• Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD)
• National Association for Gifted Children/Parent Resources
• Hidden Disabilities -- A 2021 Fall Capstone Project

Substance Use and Abuse 

• Prevention Solutions
• Stanford Medicine Tobacco Prevention Toolkit
• Growing Up Drug Free-Parent Help
• National Institute on Drug Abuse for Teens
• Partnership for Drug Free Kids
• National Institute on Drug Abuse Facts
• Parents as Substance Abuse Prevention Partners

Technology

• Common Sense Media
• Family Online Safety Institute
• Screenagers
• Screen Time Manager Apps

Praesidium Hotline

FWCD as a whole also provides a school hotline that is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Students, parents, faculty and staff are encouraged to call the Fort Worth Country Day School Helpline for confidential, expert consultation from a Praesidium expert for abuse prevention questions and issues, including:

• Suspicious or inappropriate behavior
• Bullying and hazing
• Student-to-student sexual abuse
• Child abuse

Call 866.607.7233

The Safe School Helpline

The Safe School Helpline is a convenient, confidential way for anyone to report information about situations that might affect safety at our school. Call the number any time of the day or night to report concerns about unsafe or potentially disruptive activities or situations, including drug or alcohol abuse, weapons, harassment, bullying or threats. All calls are completely confidential.

• 800-418-6423 (800-4-1-VOICE ext. 359)
• TEXT: 66746, TIPS
• www.safeschoolhelpline.com

Download the app from iTunes or Google Play.

Parent Education Programs

FWCD’s Health and Wellness Department provides numerous parent education programs that are division specific and across the divisions throughout the school year. The department also collaborates with the Parent Faculty Association on programming and is always available to work with teachers and parents to coordinate behavior and/or academic plans for students who are having difficulties in the classroom or in social situations.

Frequently Asked Questions

Contact the Counselor

Lower School: Theresa Fuss, LPC
[email protected], 817.732-7718 ext. 3333

Middle School: Kathryn Sohne, Ph.D., LCSW
[email protected], 817.302.3200 ext. 3370

Upper School: Katie Walker, LMFT
[email protected], 817.302.3266