MCPS partnership with The Landing creates support for student drug and alcohol addiction recovery

Montgomery County Public Schools is collaborating with The Landing, a Gaithersburg-based organization that supports young people in their recovery from substance abuse addiction. The partnership aims to develop an academic program to provide students a sheltered environment during drug or alcohol addiction recovery.

“The youth that we serve, currently they’re going to their home schools, and they’re struggling in their schools because a lot of times, that’s where they can get drugs and alcohol,” said Evelyn Saim-Lobos, director of The Landing. “It’s a constant reminder and a constant trigger and a constant danger for them to relapse.”

To educate the students, MCPS will provide teacher support, while The Landing distribute recovery services and instructional space at its location on East Diamond Avenue. The teachers will come from MCPS’s interim instructional services, which helps students who are unable to attend school due to physical or emotional limitations. Furthermore, the two organizations are looking to add the additional role of a liaison to further communication.

While the program’s structure is yet to be finalized, MCPS associate superintendent Jonathan Brice, who works with student and family support and engagement, notes the program seeks to expand to assist 80 students.

“It is our hope that the incidence of drug abuse decreases, and we don’t have a need for it. But at the same time, we recognize that we have to prepare because there may be young people making bad choices … who may need a program like this,” Brice said.

Using a state grant of $200,000 that is directed towards fighting the opioid epidemic, the collaboration acknowledges how the grant will only help bear the load of initial expenses for staffing and equipment and is prepared to cover additional costs in the future. Brice explains that they are looking towards creating a virtual component to the program as well.

The Landing currently helps over 37 students between the ages of 12 to 17, who attend after school programs and clubhouses to further socialization between like-minded individuals.

“We want to make sure they have something fun to do in a sober environment,” Saim-Lobos said.

The Landing is considering expanding its hours of operation, to help students learn in the morning and work on recovery in the afternoon.

To start the program, a memorandum of understanding will need to be made between MCPS and Family Services, Inc., a nonprofit that runs The Landing. Brice expects the initial phases of the program to begin before the current school year ends.   

SMOB Finalist and Richard Montgomery junior Ananya Tadikonda likewise believes this collaboration is highly needed amidst the problems of today. “In school systems, especially ones like Montgomery County, social, emotional, and mental health are often heavily overlooked amidst academic pressures and endeavors. I believe that this program will ensure that the school system does its job to ensure that every student is on track to learn and succeed,” Tadikonda says. 

MCPS founded the nation’s first recovery school in 1979, and named it the Phoenix School. The Phoenix School, however, closed in 2013 after the student population diminished to three. With a partnership with a well-established organization such as The Landing, MCPS hopes to avoid this fate.

A similar idea for academic recovery programs for students failed to materialize under MCPS last year, providing crucial inspiration for the early models of this collaboration.

Article by MoCo Student staff writer Alice Zhu of Richard Montgomery High School

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