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GAIN

The Germantown Academy Intervention Network (GAIN) is the Upper School student assistance program. The GAIN Team is a group of faculty and staff members that meet once per cycle to talk about how we can best support individual students and the school community at large. We receive referrals from adults in the GA community about students who may be struggling with mental health and/or drugs and alcohol and use a structured protocol to develop an action-oriented intervention plan. All GAIN team business is strictly confidential.

Philosophy

GAIN is a team of teachers who try to help students who are experiencing emotional and/or behavioral difficulties. All GAIN team members have had special training to identify those students who are in the throes of serious personal issues and then either develop a plan for helping them or, at least, monitor their well-being. Besides the students it identifies, GAIN helps students referred by friends, teachers, parents, and other people outside of the GAIN team. If a student is engaged in behavior inconsistent with school expectations, the student is especially encouraged to work with the GAIN team. The school's response to the student's behavior will be influenced by the student's willingness to address his or her difficulties.

In order to implement its philosophy the GAIN team will follow these objectives:

Identify students who appear to be at a high risk with respect to the following areas:
  • substance abuse
  • depression
  • eating disorders
  • suicide
  • pregnancy
  • anxiety
  • physical, emotional, and sexual abuse

Incorporate the existing school resources into the GAIN system.

Educate the GA community about what "high risk" is and about the GAIN system and its procedures.

Collect data on observable behavior and assess the situation.

Refer the student to appropriate internal or external services when necessary.

Monitor the progress of aftercare following any referrals.

GAIN Team Members

Lori Andress
Matt Dence
Matt Elliser
Michael Ferrier
Talya Latch
Rachel Lintgen
Ben Tinsley
Anika Walker-Johnson

Membership on the GAIN team is open to all Upper School faculty members who complete the four-day training offered several times per year by the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit.

All interested faculty members should contact Talya Latch for further information.