School Districts
Resources for School Districts
This is intro content about the role that school districts play. We have resources for school districts about health services, chronic absenteeism, school improvement plans and school food.
Health Services
Ensuring students in your district are enrolled in Medicaid and have access to the school health services they need are key strategies to supporting student success.
A Guide to Expanding Medicaid-Funded School Health Services
This guide is designed to support everyone working to expand access to school health services that are paid through Medicaid, including state and local education agency staff, state Medicaid agencies, school health providers, public health professionals and advocates. All of these stakeholders share a common goal: improve student health and educational outcomes.
Medicaid 101 for School Superintendents
This brief explores what Medicaid is, what it covers—in and out of school—and how school districts can leverage Medicaid to enhance school health services.
Chronic Absenteeism
Taking action to address health-related chronic absenteeism can have a powerful impact on students’ academic success and build the foundation for healthy, successful lives. Chronic absenteeism can be an important measure of how schools are supporting student health and wellness. Chronic absence rates are now included in school report cards that states release annually.
Addressing the Health-Related Causes of Chronic Absenteeism: A Toolkit for Action
This document focuses on providing educators, particularly school district decision-makers, with knowledge and practical guidance for creating meaningful change to address health-related chronic absenteeism.
School Health and Chronic Absence Diagnostic Tool
This tool is intended to help school districts identify and address the health-related causes of chronic absenteeism. This version was developed for use in California but includes information that can be used by districts in other states and can serve as a template for states to create a similar tool for districts in their state.
Addressing Chronic Absenteeism Webinar
This webinar was directed at Chicago educators and highlights the causes of and strategies for mitigating chronic absenteeism. All schools can learn from the ideas presented.
School Improvement Plans
A school improvement plan sets up the priorities, goals and action plan for a school. Including health and wellness in this plan is one of the most effective ways to ensure a school is meeting the health and wellness needs of its students and to further current initiatives.
Integrating Health and Wellness into a School Improvement Plan
This webinar provides tips for engaging in an authentic school improvement planning process that involves a variety of stakeholders and practical ways you can integrate student health and wellness in your school improvement plan. The webinar is geared toward a Chicago audience but has relevant information for all schools.
How to Integrate Health and Wellness Goals into a Continuous Improvement Work Plan
This toolkit lays out a simple framework to assist schools in incorporating health and wellness into their school improvement plans—and ensure all students have the opportunity to be the best learners they can be.
A Guide for Incorporating Health and Wellness into School Improvement Plans
This document from the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors provides a guide for addressing the needs of the whole child through school improvement plans. Alex Mays, HSC’s Senior National Program Director, served as an adviser on the project.
School Food
Healthy meals support schools’ core mission of education, especially when it comes to boosting students’ concentration, focus and cognitive function. Nutritious school food also contributes to a culture of wellness at school and can increase school connectedness and reinforce to children, families and community that students’ health and well-being are valued.
Ingredient Guide for Better School Food Purchasing
This guide from School Food Focus is a resource for school food leaders and manufacturers alike who are committed to improving the overall quality, nutritional value, and safety of food provided to all students in every school. It highlights unwanted ingredients to eliminate, or those to watch out for, as new food products are developed and others are modified.
Chicago Public Schools’ Pathways to Excellence in School Nutrition
This plan documents and make publicly accessible the district’s high school meal nutrition standards and health promoting initiatives and outline an action plan to provide healthy school food to all CPS students. This strategic plan was created in collaboration with the CPS School Food Advisory group co-convened by Healthy Schools Campaign.