North East School District Focusing on Homegrown Talent, Mental Health

Erie News Now is getting you ready for back-to-school with a look at North East School District.

The Grapepickers are led by superintendent Dr. Michele Hartzell.

North East has four schools in the district, and they are all located on one campus with around 1,200 students.

Hartzell said homegrown talent is really helping the North East district succeed.

"We have hired a lot of North East graduates as our teachers and our staff within our district," said Dr. Hartzell. "Our staff is very committed to our students. They always step up whenever we have a child or family in need, and it doesn't even have to be a family like within our community, even if it's on the outskirts. We make every effort to ensure that every student has what they need emotionally."

As far as student mental health is concerned, a social and emotional learning specialist along with a student and family relationship specialist are among the district’s relatively new hires.

"We also hired a part-time school psychologist in addition to our full-time that we employee," said Dr. Hartzell. "All of those individuals together really help to reinforce our commitment to health and wellness of not only our students but our staff.