The Andover Public Schools Social Work Department is available to serve all students enrolled within the public school district. At this time we have 19 Licensed Social Workers and 1 Social Work Coordinator covering all 10 school buildings and over 6000 students across the district.

All of our Social Workers have vast expertise in working with children/adolescents managing a wide range of mental health and socially challenging situations. Our primary focus is to assist in the development and support of social and emotional health of all students by providing an array of social work supports to students, families, faculty, and other community members who have a vested interest in our student’s well being and mental health.

Our Social Workers are available to serve all students, including general education and special education students, marginalized populations, students in crisis, students managing typical and atypical life stressors, as well as the onset of major mental health concerns. Referral is intentionally kept simple and with limited referral protocol, and can be made by students, parents, school faculty, outpatient providers, or others concerned about the general welfare of a student. We also have access to many consultants.

Some of the services the Social Work Department provides to students and families include:

• School based and school focused individual and small group counseling

• Social skills curriculum

• Family support

• Mental health crisis intervention and referral

• Referral assistance for outpatient mental health counseling services

• Referral assistance in accessing state agency services

• Team meeting participant (for students on IEP’s with social/emotional needs)

• Faculty support and training

• Formal and informal assessment, as applicable (direct and indirect observation, teacher feedback, parent and community input, BASC-2 Progress Monitor)

• Parent and teacher support