Nightingale has launched a five-year partnership with Weill Cornell Medicine to build a comprehensive, school-based mental health program. Bringing the expertise of a leading academic medical center into the life of the Schoolhouse, the collaboration will strengthen prevention efforts, deepen support for students and families, and give Nightingale’s professional community new resources for recognizing and responding to student needs.

The partnership reaches across Lower, Middle, and Upper School and connects the people who know Nightingale students best with specialists in pediatric mental health. Its approach combines ongoing clinical consultation with education for families and educators, creating a shared foundation for supporting girls as they grow and clearer pathways to care when additional help is needed.

“The relationships we build with our girls are the foundation of their Nightingale experience,” said Head of School Paul A. Burke. “We want every student to feel known and to know where to turn when she needs help. Our partnership with Weill Cornell Medicine brings additional knowledge and expertise to those relationships and helps us support our girls with greater understanding and care.”

Bringing Clinical Expertise Into School Life

The Weill Cornell Medicine team includes Dr. Corinne Catarozoli, section chief of pediatric mental health; Dr. Cori Green, vice chair of behavioral health integration and innovation; and Dr. Alexandra Huttle, assistant professor of clinical pediatrics. Together, they bring expertise in pediatric anxiety, integrating mental health into everyday care, and suicide prevention. Their collaboration with Nightingale connects clinical research with the questions and experiences that arise in a school community.

For Nightingale’s school counselors, that connection means ongoing training and evidence-based guidance from specialists, along with consultation on complex student needs. The work will help the counseling team draw on additional perspectives as they consider how best to support individual students and when to recommend further clinical care.

“Clinical consultation with Weill Cornell helps provide an additional layer of expertise to help us support students as they navigate the developmental and emotional challenges of middle school. The collaboration helps strengthen the knowledge we already have to ensure that we are continuing to provide the most up-to-date clinical interventions to students and families,” Middle School Counselor Rachael Lewiton noted.

The partnership also provides pathways to Weill Cornell Medicine’s clinical services, including short-term therapy and referrals for other levels of support when appropriate. These services are provided through WCM’s clinical practices, with insurance and billing arrangements handled through the medical team. For families, the aim is to make the process of seeking help clearer and better coordinated.

Learning Across the Community

A central part of the collaboration is helping the adults around each student develop a shared understanding of mental health and their roles in supporting it. Nightingale’s professional community, known as ProCom, will participate in workshops on recognizing concerns such as anxiety and depression, suicide awareness and prevention, and practical strategies for supporting students in the school setting.

A professional learning cohort will explore the science of the student mind, psychologically safe classrooms, the relationship between stress and academic performance, and ways to incorporate mental health awareness into teaching. The series will also address the teacher’s role and educator well-being. Professional development for coaches and physical education teachers will extend this work into athletics, where questions about confidence, perfectionism, and emotional health are also relevant.

Families are an essential part of this shared approach. A parent education series will address anxiety and coping, academic pressure and perfectionism, social media and digital well-being, and suicide awareness and prevention. Sessions will translate research into practical guidance, helping parents consider how to support healthy independence and respond when a child is struggling.

The series will make room for everyday questions about helping a child work through worry, respond to mistakes, and develop healthy habits around technology. Learning alongside the school can help families bring a more informed and consistent approach to the support children receive at home.

Lower School Counselor Lisa Bernstein emphasized, “Having direct access to Weill Cornell specialists allows us to quickly validate and address early signs of childhood anxiety with clinical experts before small worries turn into larger hurdles. This partnership gives parents immediate, evidence-based guidance and peace of mind, reassuring them that their child’s social and emotional development is fully supported and prioritized. For our school team, it increases access to support for families and students early on and ensures we can seamlessly weave personalized, expert-backed strategies directly into the classroom to keep our youngest learners feeling safe and confident.”

“This work is about making expert guidance useful in the everyday life of a school,” said Chief Administrative Officer Eizelle Taino. “A parent may have a question about how to respond to a child’s worry. A teacher may need help recognizing when a student needs a different kind of support. The partnership helps us bring research into those moments while building a common approach across our community.”

Listening to Nightingale

The collaboration began with a needs assessment to understand the concerns and priorities of Nightingale’s own community. Surveys gathered 174 family responses and 55 responses from professional community members. Anxiety, academic pressure, and the effects of social media and technology emerged as important topics, helping guide the partnership’s educational programming.

A Well-Being and Safety Committee brings together school leaders, counselors, health professionals, and educators to work alongside the WCM team. The committee’s role is to turn clinical insights into school practices, identify priorities, and evaluate how the work is serving the community. Student perspectives will also help inform how the partnership develops over time.

Building Support That Lasts

The five-year commitment gives Nightingale and WCM time to build on what they learn, refine their approach, and strengthen practices that can become part of the school’s daily life. The work includes helping students develop coping skills and confidence in seeking support, while equipping families and educators to recognize when a student may need additional care.

The collaboration reflects Nightingale’s identity as a school in and of New York City, drawing on the city’s medical research and clinical expertise to strengthen how it cares for students.

For Nightingale, the goal is for students to feel comfortable asking for help and for families and educators to know how to respond. The partnership invests in the knowledge and relationships that help girls grow with confidence in themselves and the support around them.

Current families can find information about the partnership, available services, upcoming programs, and additional resources in the WCM section of the parent portal.