With kids going back to school, some Rio Grande Valley school districts are adding more programs to promote mental health.

Sharyland Independent School District is finding new ways to bring mental health into focus this school year.

"We have been preparing for the last two weeks with lots of professional development, but one area of focus for us has been the social emotional learning," Sharyland ISD Superintendent Maria Vidaurri said.

Junior high school students will now have an advisory period every Thursday focusing solely on mental health.

"When I think about situations in which kids are struggling with their mental health, oftentimes it goes back to trauma. Trauma that happened early on in their lives," Sharyland ISD junior high counselor Orpha Herrera said.

That's why the school district decided the earlier they speak to students about mental health, the more comfortable they'll feel opening up.

For the last five years, Sharyland ISD has had two tiers of programs that help with social and emotional learning.

"We're very blessed to have adopted and taken in capturing kids hearts which is a tier one curriculum from k through 8th grade and then our high schools our secondaries adopt character strong," Sharyland ISD Director of Counseling Lorene Bazan said.

With more than 100 teachers total for the advisory program, each discussion within that advisory period is specifically designed for each different grade level.

"It's not just a general response, but it's identified to every individual need and working together to come up with a unique solution and building the student with those skills," Bazan said.

The district has joined forces with the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley to bring in more resources. Students can now expect to see one full time school psychologist intern, one part-time school counselor intern and one part-time social work intern. They'll be rotating between high schools and elementary.

Vidaurri said they made this change after the district conducted a survey on students' needs. 

"There has undoubtedly been an uptick in terms of need," Herrera said.

Sharyland ISD is reminding parents that positive mental health starts at home.

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