Meet Bruno, The Teacher's Pet Who's Helping NYC's Stressed-Out Schoolkids

NEW YORK CITY — New York City schools have gone to the dogs — in the best possible way. The city's Department of Education expanded its comfort dog program to 30 new buildings this year, placing pups in classrooms to help with counseling programs and stress relief.

The expansion means 37 schools across the city now have "comfort dogs" following a successful pilot program in seven buildings last year, education officials said. The city works with the North Shore Animal League to train the dogs and match them with school staffers, who officially adopt them.

"They're helping the dogs, they're helping the schools — it's a win-win for everyone," schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña told a group of students at Lower Manhattan Community Middle School on Tuesday.

That school in the Financial District is home to Bruno, a 7-month-old pug and beagle mix adopted in August by school principal Kelly McGuire.

Schools around the city had to apply to receive a comfort dog for this school year; there were many more interested schools than available dogs, Fariña said. The Long Island-based North Shore Animal League works with staffers to find the right dog for each selected school.

On the three days a week he comes to school, Bruno greets some of the 390 students at least twice a day and plays a role in speech therapy and guidance counseling sessions, McGuire said. He also visits certain classes and accompanies teachers to meetings.

Students at the school said Bruno "keeps everybody company" and never wants to be alone. To seventh-grader Wilson Preive, he lends a unique listening ear because students can tell him anything without fear of judgment.

"(He's) just somebody that you can kind of express your thoughts with, but you don't have to be shy about it," Prieve said.

In the nearly 40 schools that have them, comfort dogs can provide crisis intervention, grief counseling and other support for at-risk students, the Department of Education says.

Some students at Lower Manhattan Community Middle School will soon start a program called Mutt-i-Grees, which aims to teach skills such as empathy and problem-solving along with lessons about taking care of animals, officials said.

Fariña got the idea for the comfort dog program after visiting a school where a fifth-grader on the student council told her too many students were "angry for no reason," she said. She later learned about the Mutt-i-Grees program and decided it would be a "no-brainer" for city schools, she said.

McGuire plans to get Bruno involved in more school programs as time goes on, he said. He even has an online schedule for the pup so school staff can see when he needs to go outside for a bathroom break.

"The teachers have been universally enthusiastic about having him here, and whenever he's in the building they stop by and pet him and hang out with him," McGuire said.

(Lead image by Noah Manskar)