The Carmel Clay School Board unanimously approved the hiring of Stephanie Whiteside, LCSW as the district’s first Mental Health Coordinator.

Whiteside’s role will include managing the development of the district’s student services/mental health program as well as supporting the district’s student services staff to ensure all students have access to counseling and mental health supports. She will also coordinate various social-emotional learning initiatives. Whiteside will begin the position on June 3, 2019.

“Sound mental health is a priority in our community and our schools,” said David Woodward, Director of Student Services. “Thank you to the CCS School Board for recognizing the need to provide additional support for all of our students when it comes to their mental health.  We are excited to have Stephanie on board and look forward to having her expertise and understanding of mental health at Carmel Clay Schools.”

Prior to Carmel Clay Schools, Whiteside served 6 years as the Director of School Based Operations for Cummins Behavioral Health Systems, Inc. She oversaw all clinical and operational aspects of mental health programming in 113 Indiana schools across five counties. She was also responsible for providing professional development for hundreds of teachers and administrators that included topics such as Managing Trauma Symptoms in the Classroom, Recognizing the Signs of Suicidal Ideation and Educator Self-Care and Wellness.  In 2019, she helped launch Indiana’s first Educating the Whole Child Summit, in partnership with the Indiana Department of Education and Indiana University.

Whiteside earned her Bachelor’s Degree from Indiana University and her Master’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Chicago.

“We are fortunate to have a person the caliber of Stephanie Whiteside to serve as our first Mental Health Coordinator for Carmel Clay Schools,” said Dr. Beresford, Superintendent of Carmel Clay Schools. “Her background of not only serving as a school-based mental health therapist, but also as a supervisor of services brings the perfect skill set to CCS. We look forward to her leadership in mental health, trauma-informed care and social emotional learning to support our students and families. We are also excited about the expertise and guidance she will provide to our staff.  Please join me in welcoming Stephanie Whiteside to the CCS family!”