An equine therapy program in Philadelphia schools will help students with social-emotional learning

Michael Castillo sometimes struggles with his emotions. But the seventh-grader at Morrison Elementary School in Olney learned a lot — from donkeys and horses.

When Michael first came to Fox Chase Farm for a pilot program that helps students learn social and emotional skills, he said he was intimidated. He thought the animals might bite him or hit him.

“But that’s only if you activate their stuff, their moments,” Michael said. “You have to stay close to them. When they run away, they don’t want to be petted, and they don’t want to be touched. It gives you patience; you must let them come to you.’

Encouraged by the success of the pilot project, the School District of Philadelphia is expanding the program to 12 schools this school year — Morrison, Harding Middle School in Frankford, Hancock Elementary in Northeast, Hunter in North Philadelphia, Sharswood in South Philadelphia and Roosevelt Elementary in Germantown this fall, and six schools , which will be determined in the spring. Each school sends eight to ten children to classes twice a week.

The Equine Social Emotional Learning Support Program gives students with disabilities — and some of their non-disabled peers — an opportunity to help “manage their emotions, build resilience and develop critical thinking skills,” said Mandy Manna, who manages Fox Chase Farm, the district’s property that works with school students across the city.

“I wish we had animals”

It will cost approximately $108,000 to operate this school year; funds pay the bill.

The program was conceived by Meredith Lowe, principal of Morrison, in 2019. Lowe, who is a member of the Neubauer Family Foundation’s Academy for School Leaders, was in Neubauer’s small group to talk about student experiences with trauma and mental health.

Lowe described running down the street after an eighth-grader in Morrison’s emotional support class who was stunned and ran out of the building.

“She said, ‘I wish the school had animals like goats to help the kids,'” said Melissa Anderson, a clinical psychologist and trustee of the Neubauer Family Foundation.

The goats weren’t hands-on in the classroom, but Lowe and Kristen DeMarco, executive director of Gateway HorseWorks, a Malvern-based nonprofit that involves horses in mental health care, worked together to develop the program, which was celebrated at Fox Chase Farm on Wednesday.

The results were impressive: 100% of participating students improved their attendance; 90% continued increase in attendance after the program. Students who participated had fewer psychiatric hospitalizations, received fewer suspensions, and were able to spend more time in general education classes.

“As a school leader, the impact this really has on a building is huge,” Lowe said. “We have kids talking about physical safety, emotional safety, limits and respect.”

Students’ mental health needs have increased dramatically since the pandemic; One in six U.S. teenagers has a mental health problem, said Megan Smith, the county’s interim deputy chief of prevention and intervention.

“We are very excited about this initiative as we are always looking for innovative ways to meet the social, emotional and behavioral health needs of our students,” said Smith; Programs like this one give vulnerable students the opportunity to learn and practice skills that benefit them in the classroom and beyond.

“We are very excited about this partnership,” said Smith. “We look forward to continued growth.”

“It’s much more powerful”

After talking to the adults, Michael and his classmate Jake M Christian showed how the program works by walking into the donkey pen with Philadelphia Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr.

Ellen and Naomi, two soft brown donkeys, eyed the trio warily. DeMarco reminded Jake and Michael to check in with the donkeys.

“Physical safety and emotional safety have to be in place before we have trust,” DeMarco said.

But Jake and Michael were pros; they were quiet and gentle. No one taught them how to handle horses or donkeys, DeMarco said.

“This model believes that our customers have solutions if we give them the space to develop them,” she said.

One of the donkeys went to a corner of her pen, took the brush she used to brush her fur, and put it in her mouth.

“They’re a little scared,” Jake said.

“Too many people,” Michael said. “When you’re angry or sad, you just walk away.”

Watlington nodded.

“It’s not that they don’t like me; they’re just not ready yet,” Watlington said. As a former teacher, he imagined that Ellen and Naomi’s behavior might mimic that of a student who lashed out when it was time for a tough talk. “It may well not be insubordination, it’s just that the student isn’t ready to talk.”

Eventually, the donkey whisperers, including the warden, overcame Ellen and Naomi, who enjoyed ear and flank scratches and endured standing close to the trio.

“It’s a lot more powerful than anything I could ever say to them,” DeMarco said. “They knew what they had to do.”