Superintendent Nancy Kavanaugh presented highlights from the MetroWest Adolescent Health Survey administered in fall 2023, which the district uses every other year. The report showed mental‑health, substance‑use and digital‑media patterns for Hopkinton students and described how the high school planned to incorporate the results in its school improvement work.

The superintendent said the fall 2023 sample included about 900 middle‑school respondents and 1,028 high‑school respondents. The district presentation summarized key findings: 12 percent of middle school students and 16 percent of high school students reported depressive symptoms (the presentation noted a difference in question wording between middle and high school reporting windows); 9 percent of both middle‑ and high‑school students reported serious suicidal thoughts (question timeframes differed by level in the MetroWest instrument). Staff noted higher risk groups: middle‑school girls were about twice as likely as boys to report depressive symptoms, and high‑school students identifying as LGBTQ+ were more likely to report depressive symptoms (2.7×) and to consider suicide (3.8×) compared with non‑LGBTQ+ peers.

The presentation linked poorer mental health to higher substance use: among high‑school students reporting depressive symptoms, 10 percent reported nicotine vaping in the prior 30 days versus 6 percent for those without depressive symptoms; alcohol use in the prior 30 days was 24 percent among students with depressive symptoms and 15 percent among students without; marijuana use was 12 percent versus 6 percent. The superintendent noted declines over time in some substance‑use measures since the first MetroWest survey in 2006 (e.g., alcohol use from 34 percent in 2006 to 16 percent in 2023) and that nicotine vaping had fallen in recent survey cycles.

The presentation also covered digital‑media use: frequent smartphone use (three or more hours per day) was reported by 33 percent of middle school students and 45 percent of high‑school students; frequent social‑media use (three or more hours per day) was 22 percent for middle school and 24 percent for high school. Patterns differed by sex: frequent smartphone use was 39 percent for girls vs. 28 percent for boys; frequent gaming was 13 percent for girls vs. 26 percent for boys. Students and committee members noted both harms (sleep and attention impacts) and benefits (65 percent said social media helped them feel connected to peers).

Nut graf: The district will use the MetroWest survey findings in school improvement planning; the high school has incorporated the 2023 results into targets for 2024–26 focused on reducing stress reports among female students and lowering depressive symptoms. The committee discussed how students see the data: student representatives said some classes reviewed results and that student council initiatives use survey findings to shape work on stress and equity.

Committee members asked whether students see the results; a student speaker said a staff member presented and analyzed the data in school and student council uses it to set initiatives. The presentation concluded with staff noting that 39 percent of middle‑school and 38 percent of high‑school students reported talking to a counselor at school in the past 12 months, and that 31 percent of middle‑school and 43 percent of high‑school students reported talking with a counselor outside school. The superintendent said the survey’s definitions of depressive symptoms and timing were provided to the committee and that the district would re‑survey in fall 2025.

Ending: The committee asked staff to continue using MetroWest results in school improvement plans and to report back as the district tracks changes in 2025 survey data.