Nurturing Students: A Qualitative Case Study Analyzing the Perceived Impact of Tiered Mental Health Support for Elementary Students

In this qualitative case study, I explored the perceived impact of providing tiered mental health support to elementary students. I developed Randall Elementary Nurtures, or The Nurture Program, a flexible yet structured initiative grounded in a multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) model to provide intentional and scaffolded mental health support for elementary students. The purpose of this instrumental case study was to examine The Nurture Programs' perceived impact from the viewpoint of the program stakeholders, including students, parents, teachers, administration, the school counselor, and the school’s MTSS team. To understand the program’s impact during the pilot program years of 2022-2023 and 2023-2024, I conducted interviews, surveys, and focus groups with eleven key stakeholders. Findings were oriented around the study’s research questions including the program's strengths, challenges, impact on the school community, and advice for others considering mental health programing. The findings specific insight into The Nurture Program, as well a broader understanding of school-based mental health support in relation to the strenghts, challenges, and overall impact. I further distilled these themes into three main lessons: the need to support all students mental health, the need to consider a multi-tiered structure for differentiated support, and the need to reflect on the impacts of programing and make adaptations. Finally, this work addresses a gap in the existing literature by focusing on an elementary school setting and amplifying a diverse range of stakeholder perspectives.