Wellness in Focus
Wellness in Focus
BY SUSIE ZIMMERMANN | PHOTOS BY JOHNNY SHRYOCK
Peek into the new Upper School Wellness Center and you might find a student napping on the sofa, another listening to headphones while enjoying the massage chair, and a few others at the table tackling homework or trying out some meditative coloring.
The Center opened at the start of the school year, carved out of space made available when the Academic Center moved to the former art studios. “When we saw the plans,” explains Upper School Counselor Susannah Harrison, “we thought that empty space would be ideal to bring all of the faculty related to student wellness together, while providing a quiet and relaxing place for students.”
Today, the Wellness Center and attached Wellness Wing include offices for Susannah and her colleagues Melanie Stanton (director of Health Services), Dawn Mazur (Health and Sexuality teacher), David Yee (director of Service Learning and Community Engagement), Samantha Russell-Porte ’09 (counselor), and Nicole Lambelet (Upper School chaplain). An extra office also provides swing space for visitors or students who may need a private place for phone calls or telemed appointments.
The Center also reinforces the Challenge Success program that was implemented at SSSAS last year and focuses on student well-being, engagement, and belonging. “It is a program that was established through Stanford University. It started out in the West Coast and they were really looking at student engagement, student belonging, student wellness, and how to really increase that,” explains Melanie. Each division, Lower, Middle, and Upper School, is working with a Challenge Success coach and forming divisional teams of faculty, students, parents, and administrators to examine data and set action items to improve student well-being.
“We wanted to create a new space, a kind of oasis, where Saints come and not have to talk—unless they wanted to. A place they could play with the Zen garden, color, or paint. A place they could just reset.”
Melanie Stanton
Director of Health Services
“The Challenge Success focus and this available space came together like a perfect storm,” says Melanie. Susannah concurs, adding, “With anxiety and depression numbers on the rise, more than ever kids need a space to just be and we were really happy to provide it here.”
The Center is outfitted with furnishings, snacks, and materials that nurture calm and relaxation: an aquarium, essential oils diffuser, water features, fidget toys, plant wall, art kits, a zen garden, weighted blankets, warmable stuffed animals, spa music, and more. Students come in to relax in the space or make use of it while waiting to meet with one of the nearby faculty members.
“Many different types of students with different needs are coming in to rest and relax, but it’s fantastic that they have access to all of these adults if something pops into their head that they want to talk about.”
Susannah Harrison
Upper School Counselor
With other gathering spaces throughout the school, the Wellness Center is not intended to be a social hangout. “We’re still working out the rules,” explains Susannah. “We try to cap the number of students here to no more than eight at a time and ask the students to keep the noise down and clean up after themselves. We want to promote peace and calm and enable the faculty to work.”
A Wellness Club for students was created to help set usage guidelines, advocate for the space, and develop wellness-related programming to implement in the future. “We want the kids to take pride of ownership, set and enforce rules,” says Melanie, “and discuss initiatives that could promote student well-being, such as sleep campaigns, cell phone usage, managing stress during exams, and other healthy lifestyle efforts.”
Admission tour guides now proudly include the Wellness Center in their rounds. Returning alumni have praised the space, many commenting that they wish they had a similar space during their time.
Students who frequent the Center do so for the peaceful atmosphere and respite it offers in the middle of the school day. “I recommend it to any students who may not be having the best day or just need a place to relax and forget about any stressors in their life,” says senior Lauryn Burns. “It’s also a great place to work on schoolwork during a free period, or just to decompress.”
“Faculty also come in here to just chill if they need a moment. They sit in the massage chair, put on the weighted shoulder pad, or even a blanket. They love this space. And sometimes they just come in and just breathe because of the essential oil diffuser we have.”
Melanie Stanton
Director of Health Services
Juliana Summey ’26, who enjoys the Center often, agrees. “The Center has made any day that might have been stressful or that I didn’t feel good, better. When I first saw the space, I knew it was going to become my new favorite place at school!”