All full-time, student-facing employees are certified in “Question, Persuade, and Refer” (QPR) suicide prevention protocol to recognize and intervene in crises
Cheshire Academy recently marked a significant milestone in emergency education: the school’s Wellness Center has trained all full-time, student-facing faculty in QPR (Question, Persuade, and Refer) protocol for suicide prevention.
QPR training equips learners with the knowledge and confidence to recognize warning signs, ask difficult questions, and connect students with the support they need, said School Counselor Ashleigh Bass, who organized employee training over the last calendar year.
“As a school counselor in a boarding school environment, training our faculty and staff in QPR is incredibly important to me because our students are not just in our classrooms during the day; we are part of their lives around the clock,” Bass said. “Students may be navigating difficult emotions, personal challenges, or moments of crisis at any time, and the adults around them play an important role in recognizing when a student may be struggling and knowing how to respond.”
The training introduced all faculty and staff who deal with students to resources they may need, when to use them, and how to conduct an immediate “warm handoff” to school-based expert support for students in crisis.
They learned when to call school-based counselors, when to alert emergency services or mental or behavioral health resources, and how to ask difficult questions to better guide and assess their students’ needs.
“When all full-time, student-facing faculty are trained in suicide prevention, we strengthen our entire school community’s ability to recognize when a student may be struggling, respond with compassion, and connect them with support,” said Colleen Reynolds, Cheshire Academy’s director of Counseling & Wellness. “Ms. Bass brings tremendous expertise and care to these trainings, helping our faculty build the confidence and skills to have potentially life-saving conversations. This shared knowledge creates a stronger safety net around our students and reinforces that caring for one another is a responsibility we all share.”
The training makes Cheshire Academy a safer community, Bass said.
“Ultimately, this training is about strengthening our community of care and ensuring that we are all better equipped to look out for one another,” she said, “so that no student has to navigate a difficult moment alone.”
Learn more about the ways Cheshire Academy supports student mental health on the health & wellness webpage.
