Taking Milton's Temperature: The Health and Counseling Center
by Allison F. Brown P’06

Back in our secondary school days, we parents had little reason or inclination to avail ourselves of what passed for health services. Even in the best boarding schools of yore, the extent of the care was often just a kindly nurse with Bactine, band-aids, aspirin, and a starchy cot. Times have changed. Today, Milton Academy’s Health and Counseling Center (HCC) offers comprehensive services and programs which respond directly to nearly every physiological and psychological need our children might present. The Center also provides first aid care to the larger community of faculty and staff.

To meet the constant demand, the HCC includes over a dozen staff members. Elinor Griffin, who came to Milton in 1979, is the director. Besides overseeing the Center, she counsels, teaches an AP psychology course, coordinates the “Human Sexuality and Relationships” course (HS&R), and supervises the “Independent Student Support” (ISS) and “Students Educating the Community About Sex” (SECS) programs. For the aches, pains, fevers, allergy shots and routine laboratory tests, there are over half a dozen RNs, with Paula Larson as head nurse. Two RNs are on site all day while school is in session. A nurse is also available at the Center until midnight, at least a portion of each weekend day and holiday, and around the clock whenever a boarding student is ill and staying in the infirmary. Otherwise, the nurse is available “on call”. Physicians are on call as well, with Lisa Wong, M.D. of Milton Pediatrics Group first on the list.

The mental health portion of the services offered are equally comprehensive and fully staffed with three plus one part time professional counselors. Getting an appointment with any of them is as easy as signing up on the office door for a time slot—with an X, if one prefers. Many students are eager to take advantage of the wisdom and guidance offered, they do not hesitate to put their names on the list, and some return regularly to discuss the latest on their minds. The Outreach Team, a small group of faculty members with extra training in counseling adolescents, further encourages students who may need assistance to get it. The above mentioned ISS program is another small group of community members, in this case twelve Class I students, who are trained to assist fellow students who want a peer with whom to discuss personal issues, and to connect them to the Counseling Center if necessary.

The HCC is founded on a strong belief in preventive care, and to that end an increasing number of educational programs have been gradually added to the list of programs for which the HCC is responsible. The stated goal of the HCC is to promote physical and emotional good health. Special attention is therefore given to educating students about the importance of enough sleep (current research suggests nine hours, minimum), eating properly and getting exercise. The optional but very popular HS&R courses, at both beginning and advanced levels for Classes I-III, address sexuality and relationships through ten weekly discussion meetings. These gatherings are held at night on campus, some in faculty homes, for groups of ten to twelve students led by specially trained facilitators. Interestingly, it seems that the complex issues of relationships dominate most sessions. Class IV is required to attend Health, which meets once a week during the school day. It covers nearly everything related to well being, but in very broad terms. All Upper School students are required to attend occasional special sessions about drug and alcohol education, presented through the year by outside consultants. Such sessions are generally followed by further discussion in small groups.

The HCC endorses Milton Academy’s Sanctuary Program, a system designed to encourage students to seek care in emergencies brought on by drug or alcohol use, avoiding potentially dire health consequences. HCC Director Griffin believes this policy may well have saved some young lives. Any student who overtly states the need for “sanctuary” can summon emergency care for himself or herself, or another dangerously overdosed student, without penalty of disciplinary action. In these rare situations, fear of disciplinary reprisals should not interfere with the urgent need to get immediate help. Ellie Griffin adds that the program is used judiciously.

Isn’t this light years ahead of the old nurse’s office we once knew? To learn more about the HCC and its programs, parents can refer to their current Milton Academy Parent Guidebook, page 8 or the Milton Academy Student Handbook, pages 35–38. Questions of any sort are welcome, and can be asked by calling the Center during school hours at (617) 898-2450.