School Officials: Dramatic Numbers Among Younger Wilton Children Highlight Need for Mental Health Intervention 

A disturbing uptick in suicidal ideation and threats of harm among Wilton students at Cider Mill and Middlebrook Schools was discussed during the Board of Education meeting on Thursday, May 1.

Wilton Public Schools Director of Climate, Community, Belonging and Wellness Kim Zemo gave an update presentation alongside Maria Streaman, a social and emotional learning (SEL) specialist working with Wilton’s elementary students.

Zemo presented a four-year look at numbers of mental health interventions done in the district.

“There’s been a significant decrease at the high school,” she said. “However, you’ll see a significant increase when we look at our elementary schools.”

“When we look at pre-K-8, when you look at it at first glance, it’s certainly concerning,” she said.

While Wilton High School saw a large drop in students presenting suicidal ideation, from 26 to eight over the past four years, the numbers have increased among younger students. Up to April 28 of this year, there have been 12 interventions at Cider Mill for suicidal ideation, and 9 at Middlebrook since the school year started.

In general, mental health interventions have dropped at WHS, from 49 interventions in 2021-22, and 39 in 2022-23, down to 15 in 2023-24 and 16 in 2024-25.

The combined preK-8 schools, however, including Miller-Driscoll School, Cider Mill, and Middlebrook, grew from 35 in 2021-22 and 32 in 2022-23, up to 40 in 2023-24, and now 62 in 2024-25.

This year, there have been 20 interventions at Cider Mill concerning a threat and/or harm to others, with only three such interventions at Middlebrook.

Regarding harm to self, there have been three intervention at Cider Mill and five at Middlebrook, with three referrals to the CT Department of Children and Families (DCF) at each of those schools.

While Miller-Driscoll saw no threats or incidents relating to self harm, there were four DCF referrals at Miller-Driscoll.

Zemo made note that the numbers may be slightly misleading, as the district did some “significant” training at the elementary level regarding how staff should respond to threatening behavior, prompting more focus. 

“So we are using that and looking at it through a different lens and tracking it, so it’s gonna be elevated because of that,” she said.

“The other piece is that, of the 20 [Cider Mill interventions], five students contributed to 11 of those incidents,” she said, “so we have some repeat situations.”

“That begs the question of really looking at, ‘Do we have a cohort of students that really needs a different tier of intervention?’ and that’s something that we need to kind of look at at Cider Mill and maybe how we approach that,” Zemo said.

She hypothesized that an uptick in threatening language amongst elementary students may be the result of a premature exposure to violent media content more common these days.

“I will say that kids are using threatening language more than we’ve seen at the elementary level,” Zemo said. “We can make connections to social media and having cellphones at a young age and video games and just parents that I’ve talked to, elementary-age kids watching “Stranger Things” and shows that are developmentally probably way too much for that age, and so we’re seeing some of that in the language.”

BOE Chair Ruth DeLuca asked whether these students were even aware of the impact they were having with their language, or if it was an efficacious effort to generate attention.

“Are they understanding the meaning and the intent, or is it, kind of, they’re just looking to shock or say something provocative, and know that those are provocative words or language?” DeLuca said.

Zemo outlined a couple of reasons.

“Often times it’s a regulation piece,” she said. “They’re not able to regulate and they’re angry and they’re acting out.”

“Sometimes it can be part of a disability and sometimes not, or an impulsivity … It’s really dependent on the child and then whatever they may be watching in terms of violent shows or different things like that, and then playing out that,” Zemo said, noting it was really a case-by-case matter.

Zemo said that, for a group of around 900 students in total, the students needing intervention was relatively small for preK-8.

“However, the work that needs to go into these assessments and supporting these students is significant,” she said.

Streaman discussed the SEL curriculum that’s being used called Everyday Speech, which she described as a ready-made and user-friendly series of lessons on a range of topics relating to emotional wellness. She said teachers at Cider Mill and Miller-Driscoll were adept at working it into the classroom.

Zemo said there are new communication lessons being worked on that are aimed at helping younger students understand the gravity of what words can do and how they have impact.

While there were only eight students that were flagged for suicidal ideation this year at WHS, Zemo said that four of them had to be assessed at the hospital emergency room.

“Though our numbers are down at the high school, the situations that come up are pretty intense,” she said, “and trying to get those kids into the right level of care is pretty important.”

Among other tools, the district makes use of a software program called Gaggle Filtering Software, which flags items that students are accessing on their computers at school, alerting the administration to items they may choose to investigate.

Along with a variety of other initiatives the district is employing to try and assuage mental health issues, including parent education programs, the new Cartwheel program being piloted this year offers a chance to connect elementary-age students and their families with counseling services.

As they investigate their data, Zemo said the district can begin referring children and families from Cider Mill and Middlebrook that can benefit from the Cartwheel program.