Student Life
Health & Wellness
Indian Springs Health & Wellness
We are dedicated to providing the highest teaching standards for our students in a caring, respectful, and safe environment—one where students can follow their passions as they develop a love of learning and creativity, a sense of integrity and moral courage, and an ethic of participatory citizenship with respect for individuality and independent thought.
To that end, our Student Health Services program integrates clinical health services, physical fitness, athletics, health education, nutrition, mindfulness training/practices, and counseling support as we seek to promote health and wellness in all its forms. Recognizing our responsibility to educate young people about the importance of both physical and emotional health and the habits necessary to support healthy choices, we continue to build curricula and programs to address specific health and wellness topics. These include stress management, substance abuse and risky behaviors, self-care, respect for others, consent, school-life balance, and navigating issues such as identity, social anxiety, belonging, and achievement.
Our new peer mentorship program gives students an opportunity to explore additional topics, such as peer pressure, loneliness and isolation in the social realm, social media and technology, and study skills, with their peers. Our goal, through this programming, is to enable our students to be their best selves as they navigate the unpredictability of adolescence.
Our new peer mentorship program gives students an opportunity to explore additional topics, such as peer pressure, loneliness and isolation in the social realm, social media and technology, and study skills, with their peers. Our goal, through this programming, is to enable our students to be their best selves as they navigate the unpredictability of adolescence.
Student Resources
List of 2 items.
-
Health Clinic
Our clinic is located near the dorms, athletic fields, and gymnasium. Facilities include an examination room and separate rooms for boys and girls. Our clinic provides health support to our students in a caring and confidential manner. Our clinic is staffed by an Registered Nurse (RN) Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and an RN is on call after hours. -
Counseling Office
Our School Counselor, Rebecca Mahayag, works with students on a confidential basis around a variety of issues and concerns including adjustment and homesickness, stress management, depression, anxiety, grief and loss, eating concerns, substance abuse, sexuality, relationships, and family issues. All services are provided for free. Appropriate referrals to local practitioners are made when necessary. Sometimes, students have challenges and concerns that do not directly involve or impact them, but they want to help. Ms. Mahayag can be a good resource to talk with about how to help a friend with a specific issue.
Appointments:
You may visit with Ms. Mahayag at her office in Town Hall, or visit our clinic and speak to Nurse Wammack, our Director of Student Health Services. You may also call Ms. Mahayag on her office phone at 205.332.0579.
Returning to School After an Illness
Indian Springs follows current CDC guidelines for respiratory illnesses such as COVID-19, influenza, and RSV.
Once students resume normal activities, they are encouraged to take additional prevention strategies for the next 5 days to curb disease spread, such as taking more steps for cleaner air, enhancing hygiene practices, wearing a well-fitting mask, keeping a distance from others, and/or getting tested for respiratory viruses.
The recommendations suggest returning to normal activities when, for at least 24 hours, symptoms are improving overall, and if a fever was present, it has been gone without use of a fever-reducing medication.
Once students resume normal activities, they are encouraged to take additional prevention strategies for the next 5 days to curb disease spread, such as taking more steps for cleaner air, enhancing hygiene practices, wearing a well-fitting mask, keeping a distance from others, and/or getting tested for respiratory viruses.
Our Advising Program
Our motto, Learning through Living, embodies our tradition of creating space for students to do and try and fail (and try again and do something completely different) and open themselves to creating a meaningful life. The role of adult community members in this process is both a delicate and essential one.
Students are assigned to a faculty advisor at the start of each school year. Advisors meet weekly with their small group of 7 to 11 advisees to discuss topics ranging from current events in the news to understanding and working through Bruni's sphere of influence to discussing the impact of sleep on academic performance. Advisors are also available to meet with students individually throughout the school year for conversations that lend themselves to one-on-one mentorship. In these individual meetings, students also have an opportunity to discuss grades and courses and any experiences that might hinder their ability to be at their academic best.
Students are assigned to a faculty advisor at the start of each school year. Advisors meet weekly with their small group of 7 to 11 advisees to discuss topics ranging from current events in the news to understanding and working through Bruni's sphere of influence to discussing the impact of sleep on academic performance. Advisors are also available to meet with students individually throughout the school year for conversations that lend themselves to one-on-one mentorship. In these individual meetings, students also have an opportunity to discuss grades and courses and any experiences that might hinder their ability to be at their academic best.
Our core values (innovative thinking, intellectual curiosity, integrity, inclusion, infinite respect, and involvement) guide our work with students. In many supportive advising relationships, there is a significant overlap between how faculty interact with students as teachers and coaches and how we interact with them as advisors.
Our goal is to support students as they make sense of their freedom, independence, academic trajectory, and organic relationships in this educational environment. Many students will forge natural connections with teachers, coaches, and other staff here. For the students who might not make those connections as quickly, the advisor and the advising group can be the built-in structure that supports them as they learn through living.
Our goal is to support students as they make sense of their freedom, independence, academic trajectory, and organic relationships in this educational environment. Many students will forge natural connections with teachers, coaches, and other staff here. For the students who might not make those connections as quickly, the advisor and the advising group can be the built-in structure that supports them as they learn through living.
Healthy Relationships
As a key component of our commitment to providing a safe and supportive learning environment, and in keeping with our Statement on Good Teaching, we promote healthy relationships and appropriate boundaries among our community members through our student and faculty policies and programming. In our wellness curriculum, newly enhanced advising program, and new “community conversations” series, we talk regularly with students about our core value of “infinite respect”; consent and sexual intimacy; maintaining boundaries; and building healthy relationships. Our faculty and staff receive annual training with nationally recognized experts in creating safe school cultures, identifying and enforcing clear boundary guidelines, and establishing guidelines that support students’ developmental growth and social integration.
Click here to read about our commitment to student safety and well-being and to explore our Code of Conduct for employees, and Read 'N' Heed for students and parents.
Click here to read about our commitment to student safety and well-being and to explore our Code of Conduct for employees, and Read 'N' Heed for students and parents.
Staff
List of 5 members.
190 Woodward Drive, Indian Springs, Alabama 35124
Phone: 205.988.3350
Indian Springs School, an independent school recognized nationally as a leader in boarding and day education for grades 8-12, serves a talented and diverse student body and offers admission to qualified students regardless of race, gender, religion, national origin, ethnicity, or sexual orientation. Located in Indian Springs, Alabama, just south of Birmingham, the school does not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, religion, national origin, ethnicity, or sexual orientation in the administration of its educational policies, admission policies, scholarship and loan programs, or athletic and other school-administered programs.
© 2023 Indian Springs School. All Rights Reserved.
© 2023 Indian Springs School. All Rights Reserved.