Assistant Principal Courtney Walker with Alaina, a senior at Carrollton High School. PHOTOS BY FERNANDO DECILLIS

Over the last 16 years, I have had the privilege of working with a variety of students who have presented unique needs both inside and outside of the classroom. As is the case with most educators, it’s an honor, and never a burden, to support a student through their difficulties. However, for school leaders, there is always “the first” of any new challenge. Within the secondary school setting, support often takes two forms: navigating the present and empowering students to use their current challenges to prepare for life after high school.

Two years ago, I sat across the table from a very concerned mother whose daughter, Alaina, had just been diagnosed with anorexia. This student was a top-performing athlete at our school and well-liked by her classmates. She always lit up the room with laughter at her witty zingers.

However, she was struggling with counting calories and feeling pressure to eat as little as possible. Her body had started to fail her, and she was ultimately unable to perform athletically due to extreme fatigue. Her softball coach communicated concerns to her parents who were also worried about her health, and they immediately sought medical attention. Her doctors recommended residential treatment.

While Alaina resisted the reality that her health was declining and that she was obsessed with restricting calories, her parents fought for what was in her best interest. They were persistent and asked the school for help in thinking creatively about how we could support their family as she navigated residential treatment. Given these challenges, my job as one of the school leaders was to think creatively about her class schedule and consider alternative options that would allow Alaina to prioritize her health while still maintaining an academic presence and earning credits toward graduation.

As school leaders, we often think about how our decisions impact the masses. However, my principal, Ian Lyle, often reminds me that we are in the business of people, and to support the individual, we often must live in the gray areas.

While I genuinely believe that face-to-face instruction with teacher support is in the best interest of most students, there are always special circumstances where we must think outside the box to ensure that a student’s most critical needs are met before they can focus on academic performance. In our teacher preparation programs, we learned about different educational philosophies and theories, such as Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. A theory is just that—a theory—until it is applied in practice.

Offering Flexibility

For many students with eating disorders, sitting in a mainstream classroom while friends are snacking on items from the vending machine, or walking into a cafeteria with over 400 students eating lunch, can feel triggering. Smaller classes or an alternative lunch schedule can be small changes that allow a student the opportunity to reclaim their power over food. Especially if a student is returning to school from residential care, it’s important to approach their time at school through a non-traditional lens. Rather than forcing them back into their old routine, consider how you can offer flexibility.

We chose to offer Alaina, who is now a senior, a seat in the Performance Learning Center, an alternative education setting on our campus where virtual instruction is self-paced, but students have face-to-face teacher support in smaller classes, with flexibility in attendance, approved through our district’s charter. This approach allowed Alaina to attend school around her scheduled meals, as prescribed by her dietitian, and not be forced to sit in a cafeteria for lunch where she struggled to manage her emotions around eating. It also allowed her to continue outpatient treatment, where she received counseling, check-ins with her doctors, and she participated in an online support group with other teenagers battling eating disorders. One of our assistant principals, Aprill Jones-Byrd, serves as the director of the center. She monitors students’ progress in their online coursework and coordinates attendance expectations around students’ work schedules or other personal circumstances that may impede their ability to attend school in a traditional setting.

Walker and Alaina share a laugh with Assistant Principal Aprill Jones-Byrd, the director of the Performance Learning Center on campus.

In addition to considering the logistics of navigating the school schedule and academic performance, it is also important to consider how to support a student’s ownership of their experiences and provide them with space and resources to create positive change. Our students are brave, and if we provide them with the right opportunities and support, they will learn that their experiences are not signs of weakness but power.

Teenage girls often struggle with negative body images, especially in an age of social media outlets highlighting the best and brightest camera angles, lighting, and photo editing software available for almost any app. However, empowering a student to own those experiences creates leadership opportunities, and with the right level of adult support, they will not shy away from the challenge. Rather than hiding their experiences or keeping them a secret, Alaina welcomed opportunities to help others who were experiencing similar challenges. She organized the first NEDA (National Eating Disorders Association) Walk on our campus and invited students, teachers, and community members to support it through funding and attendance. She was also invited to speak on our district podcast about her experiences with anorexia and how others can support students who are also struggling with eating disorders.

I asked Alaina if I could include her perspective in this article, and she readily agreed. “Administrators should bring awareness through conversations about eating disorders among all students so that the ones who are struggling feel comfortable being honest, coming forward, and will feel less alone,” she told me.

Healing by Sharing

Walker with Alaina and Carrollton High School Principal Ian Lyle.

My advice to school administrators is to help your students become trailblazers. Encourage them to be vocal about their journeys with eating disorders or any other mental health issues, so that after high school they can be vulnerable with others and help them start a path to healing. As Alaina told me, “Community is so important in recovery.”

During our school’s advisement classes (similar to homeroom) held every two weeks, one of our counselors hosts “Mental Health Minutes.” They use this time with students to discuss topics that affect a student’s social and emotional well-being, including strategies for managing academic stress, pressures from social media, and screen time, as well as strategies for helping others who may be at risk of self-harm or experiencing depression. Eating disorders are also not a topic we shy away from.

As educators, we must also help our students seek ways to continue their growth beyond graduation. Alaina is already using her experiences to support others walking through their own eating disorder journey. She has created a social media page called Mental Table Talks, where she posts encouragement for those who are struggling, as well as statistical facts and information to spread awareness to those who know little about the impact of eating disorders on an individual.

I can’t imagine a better outcome: a brave and bold student who is using what they have learned throughout their high school experience to positively impact others. That, for me, is the joy of school leadership.

Courtney Walker is the assistant principal of teaching and learning at Carrollton High School in Carrollton, GA, and the 2024 National Assistant Principal of the Year.