Learning Collaborative

Every school will face mental health crises. The question is whether you'll be prepared to save lives and support your community through difficult times.

What is the Learning Collaborative?

The Learning Collaborative is a 7-session virtual program designed to help school divisions develop comprehensive suicide prevention plans through hands-on, scenario-based learning. Over nine months, your team will work alongside other Virginia school divisions to identify, develop, and refine policies and protocols for prevention, intervention, and postvention.

Timeline: Monthly sessions from January through September, 2026.

What You'll Accomplish

By participating in the Learning Collaborative, your team will:

  • Develop a comprehensive suicide prevention plan tailored to your needs
  • Create policies and protocols for prevention, intervention, and postvention
  • Build division-specific resources including templates and procedures
  • Gain practical skills through scenario-based learning
  • Collaborate with other divisions to share strategies and solve challenges
  • Identify next steps for continued growth and policy implementation

Session Overview

  1. Introduction – Find your “why” and understand your role
  2. Prevention – Assess current practices and identify growth areas
  3. Prevention → Intervention – Build referral and assessment procedures
  4. Intervention → Crisis Support – Develop safety plans and communication protocols
  5. Re-entry & Documentation – Create systems for student support and record-keeping
  6. Postvention – Plan crisis response and memorialization procedures
  7. Wrap-Up – Finalize your comprehensive plan and ongoing monitoring systems

Who Should Participate?

The Learning Collaborative is designed for divisions ready to build or strengthen their comprehensive suicide prevention plans. This program requires division-level commitment and the ability to implement policy changes.

Team Composition

Each division should bring 4-10 team members including:

  • 2 people (minimum) from the division level
    • Someone who can influence policy and process
    • Someone who can influence communications
    • Someone who is willing to recruit, take on being the point person
  • 2 people (minimum) representing individual schools
  • 1 SRO/threat assessment team member
  • At least 1 mental health professional (division-level or school-level)

An ideal team will have a minimum of 4 participants (2 division-level, 2 school-level), up to a maximum of 10, and we strongly recommend a second health professional (e.g., counselors, psychologists, nurses, social workers, PE/health directors, etc.).

Note: Team members can change across sessions, and not everyone needs to attend every meeting. However, your division should maintain consistent representation throughout the program.

If you’re an individual staff member who doesn’t have division-level support, we recommend our Connect Prevention Training (info coming soon) as an alternative. This focuses on individual suicide prevention training and school-level implementation.

Interested?

We’re currently forming cohorts for 2026. Each will include 4-8 school divisions.

Ready to learn more? Complete our interest form below, and we’ll contact you to discuss details.

Join our learning collaborative
(If Applicable)
(Optional)

Questions?

Please reach out! We’re here to help you determine the best path forward for your division’s suicide prevention efforts.

Email: info@supportivetogether.org
Phone: (540) 568-8901