Mesa Public Schools Prioritizes Holistic Teacher, Staff and Leadership Well-being with Grokker

San Jose, CA (September 10, 2024) — In an initiative to increase the holistic well-being—and retention—of Mesa's more than 9,000 educators, administrators, and staff, Mesa Public Schools has entered a contract with corporate well-being company Grokker.

Grokker's AI-guided platform provides wrap-around programming to address not only stress, burnout, anxiety, and other common mental health challenges, but also nutrition, sleep, fitness, and financial well-being—everything that teachers, staff, and administrators need to feel refreshed and more resilient.

"We're a family. Grokker helps us connect."

"We wanted a well-being solution that can help relieve educators' stress, improve work-life balance, and provide fitness, cooking, mindfulness, and other well-being content," says Rocio Sosa, Mesa Employee Benefits Director.

"But we also wanted something that will help us be more connected as a district. We're a family, but we're spread out among 85 schools that are not all close to one another. Grokker's challenges give us ways to feel connected and to strengthen ties among educators in different locations."

AZ Educator Well-being: Crucial to Reducing Surging Attrition

Grokker CEO Lorna Borenstein adds, "We know that nationally, a shocking 44% of K-12 educators routinely feel burned out at work, and that poor teacher wellness and mental health can affect the quality of learning environments. It's a painful problem that often leads to turnover."

Arizona's educational ecosystem is under particular pressure to retain educators, with 13.1% actively planning in 2023 to leave the profession—a rate more than 50% higher than the national average.

Compounding the problem, attrition can drain schools of experienced teachers who are widely acknowledged as the most effective. Currently, 33% of Arizona's educators have four or fewer years of experience.

Retaining new teachers as they mature is important across disciplines, and attracting and retaining instructors is particularly urgent in special education and STEM.

Grokker Yields Up to 68% Reduction in Turnover

Borenstein continues, "We're delighted that Grokker can be part of the solution to increasing the holistic well-being of, and retaining, Arizona's educators. Our dynamically tailored content, including more than 4,000 visually immersive videos and numerous wellness guides, provides each educator with the fitness, pre-clinical mental health, and financial programming they need to support well-being inside and out.

"In addition to the deep intrinsic value of feeling well, we know that employees who have greater well-being are far less likely to leave their jobs."

Actuarial data confirms that Grokker's platform reduces users' attrition by up to 68%.

About Mesa Public Schools

Mesa Unified School District #4’s more than 9,000 educators, staff, and administrators serve more than 64,000 students attending 85 elementary, junior high, senior high, and alternative schools in Mesa, Tempe, and Chandler, Arizona. The district also serves pupils from the Salt River Pima–Maricopa Indian Community.

About Grokker

Grokker transforms employee physical, mental, and financial well-being globally through visually immersive content. Its inclusive community of experts and personalized guidance is proven to strengthen retention by 68%, triple engagement, and lessen the burden on HR teams.

With Grokker, each member’s well-being experience is personalized to help guide them to the lowest acuity, highest impact intervention. Grokker's solution seamlessly integrates with HR teams and provides them with ongoing actionable insights.

Global organizations like Delta Air Lines, Pfizer, Target, and Domino’s trust Grokker to support the diverse well-being needs of their teams in more than 179 countries. Grokker is dedicated to making holistic health and well-being equitable, engaging, and accessible for all.

Learn more at grokker.com.