RIDE Launches the WELL Initiative Educator Wellbeing Resource Hub

Published on Wednesday, August 21, 2024

PROVIDENCE, RI -- As Rhode Island prepares for the 2024-2025 school year, Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green and the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) today launched www.wellinitiativeRI.org, a systems-oriented resource hub to support educator wellness and the development of supportive and collaborative school communities. From research-backed school wellness program implementation toolkits to Rhode Island-based professional learning opportunities, resources center around building healthy relationships, elevating educator voice, professional development and growth, wellbeing and literacy activities, and addressing workload and job demands. The website launch follows the 2023 Wellness in Education Leads to Learning (WELL) grant program, which provided $3 million in funds for the creation and development of school wellness rooms and accompanying professional development.

"We recognize the immense pressures and challenges that educators face every day and we want them to know the State of Rhode Island wants to help," said Governor Dan McKee. "By providing accessible wellness resources and education for teachers and school communities, we are investing in the long-term success of our students and educators.”

“The strongest education systems are those that recognize and support the whole person—both students and educators. When education systems understand the holistic needs of individuals, including their physical, social, emotional, and psychological wellbeing, they create conditions that are conducive to effective teaching and learning,” said Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green. “It is our hope that this centralized hub becomes a launching point for school districts across the state to double down on their efforts to promote educator wellness. By leveraging this new resource, districts can build on existing programs and introduce new strategies to create a more supportive environment for educators and start the upcoming school year strong.”

To support school and districtwide efforts around wellness, the website also features a suite of frameworks, which provide evidence-based foundations and structures to build policies, programs, and practices on.

“As educators, our wellbeing is the foundation of our ability to inspire, guide, and support our students every day. This website underscores the importance of taking care of ourselves so that we can continue to give our best to our students,” said 2025 Teacher of the Year Milissa O’Neil. “I strongly encourage educators, school principals, superintendents, and all members of our education community to explore the platform and take advantage of tools available to support our health, resilience, and overall wellbeing.”

The WELL Initiative complements a number of RIDE initiatives already underway to create more welcoming, safe, and healthy school communities. Since 2018, RIDE has sought and received more than $50 million in competitive grant funding, including three Project AWARE (Advancing Wellness and Resiliency in Education) grants from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and two $10 million U.S. Department of Education grants to recruit and retain school mental health providers.

During the 2023-2024 school year, RIDE participated in the Council of Chief State School Officers’ (CCSSO) Community of Practice that informed the summer 2024 publication Moving Beyond Self-Care: Practice and Policy Conditions to Support Educator Wellbeing. The resource explores the complex influences on educator wellbeing and identifies six actions state leaders can take to promote educator wellbeing efforts in their states. It also features examples from states, including Rhode Island, working to improve educator wellbeing.

RIDE works to integrate mental wellbeing into a multi-tiered system of supports that provides ongoing resources and services. These efforts help build mental health literacy among faculty, staff, youth and families and provide early identification and tiered interventions to those in need. RIDE has fostered strong relationships with Yale University's Center for Emotional Intelligence which provides a 10-hour online course at no cost to Rhode Island educators entitled: Managing Emotions in Times of Uncertainty and Stress. The Rhode Island Foundation, along with National Education Association of Rhode Island (NEARI) and the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals (RIFTHP) partnered to make this course available during the height of the pandemic. RIDE has also partnered with Pure Edge to provide ongoing professional development and self-care strategies to districts and partner organizations.

Further, RIDE convenes a statewide Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Committee, which is composed of various stakeholders including general and special education teachers, principals, school mental health professionals, parents, and representatives from higher education and the community. The committee advises RIDE on SEL practices and initiatives, and provides practical information from the field. The Committee has worked to develop the Rhode Island SEL Standards: Competencies for School and Life Success and developed the accompanying Introduction and Guidance to Rhode Island Social Emotional Learning Standards and SEL Grade Span Indicators. RIDE offers an SEL endorsement on an educator’s professional certificate. Additional information for the SEL Committee and Community of Practice, including local wellness resources, can be found at RIDE’s Social and Emotional Learning webpage.

###