Jim Roberts
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified eight components of a coordinated school health program: health education; physical education; school health services; nutrition services; counseling, psychological, and social services; healthy school environment; school site health promotion for staff; and family and community involvement. The HSRC includes these components along with program policy and strategic planning as well as coordination of school health programs. Schools that implement a coordinated approach to school health have found that they - Teach students practical skills they can use to make smart choices for life.
- Reduce absenteeism and behavioral problems.
- Improve classroom performance (higher test scores, more alert students, and more positive attitudes among students).
- Increase collaboration among parents, teachers and administrators, and the community, providing increased resources and services to schools.
- Prepare kids to learn by meeting their basic needs (e.g., school meal programs, nurses' diagnosis of illness).
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Using the Healthy School Report Card (HSRC) as its foundation, the Batesville Community School Corporation (BCSC) in Batesville, Ind., has made significant progress developing its coordinated school health program. By integrating the HSRC into its practices, institutionalizing the processes it outlines, and continually reviewing their progress and adjusting as necessary, the BCSC has been able to develop and implement many programs and partnerships that meet the requirements of a coordinated school health program (see sidebar).
Three key leaders from the BCSC participated in a three-year intensive leadership training program to learn the importance of coordinating existing health programs within the school environment to better impact the health and well-being of students and staff. The program, jointly sponsored by the Indiana Department of Education, Michigan Department of Education, and the American Cancer Society's Great Lakes Region, focuses on the using the coordinated school health program in combination with Creating a Healthy School Using the Healthy School Report Card: An ASCD Action Tool. The tool provides schools with an assessment process based on research, best practices, and practical information related to healthy school environments.
Jim Roberts, BCSC assistant superintendent, was involved in the initial implementation of the coordinated approach learned through the leadership training program. Since then, BCSC has developed a system for ensuring that the program is monitored, goals are set, strategies are implemented, and improvement is measured.
The HSRC is an integral tool in BCSC's efforts to improve the health and well being of its students and staff. BCSC first used it to plan and implement the highest quality coordinated school health program. From there, the team now uses the processes outlined in the action tool on a monthly basis to track progress toward meeting standards identified as in need of improvement and to revise the BCSC Healthy School Improvement Plan. Because the BCSC Wellness Policy mandates that the corporation have a Coordinated School Health Council and that each school maintains a Healthy School Improvement Team, the BCSC conducts a yearly review of the HSRC and yearly revision of the Healthy School Improvement Plan.
The ongoing use of the HSRC has led to the development and implementation of a number of programs:
- A partnership with Denise Seabert and her students at Ball State University for analysis of data and improvement planning.
- A partnership with Margaret Mary Community Hospital in Batesville to develop a staff health-screening program and to provide educational opportunities for students.
- A partnership with the American Cancer Society to get staff members more physically active.
- The development of the CHOICES Program, which attempts to decrease the rate of adolescent alcohol use in the Batesville Community by providing fun events for students, educational programs for students and parents, and a Parent Pledge for students and parents to sign indicating their home will be free of drugs and alcohol for adolescents.
- The creation of policies for a tobacco-free campus and healthy vending machine options.
- The implementation of a Farm to School Program where fresh, local meat is used in school cafeterias.
- A partnership with the Kiwanis Club of Batesville to begin an Every Smile Counts dental program for needy students.
- The training of elementary school students in the Kid Escape Program, which features techniques for students to use if being abducted.
- The implementation of the Girls on the Run program, designed to get girls more physically active in grades 3–6.
The BCSC experience indicates that institutionalizing the process is key to success. The process should be written into policy; it should be the work of a group and not one individual; and it should be reviewed annually by the school health council. Schools that choose to institutionalize the HSRC will be better equipped to make continual gains in their health programs and improve the outcomes for their students and staff.
For more information on the BCSC efforts, please contact Jim Roberts, Batesville Community School Corporation, P.O. Box 121, 626 N. Huntersville Road, Batesville, IN 47006.