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Health & Wellness
OVERVIEW
Our goal is that Community Achieves schools and their networks of results-focused partners support the school community to achieve these common outcomes:
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Students are physically capable to enter and participate in school
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Students feel safe at school physically, socially, emotionally
- In-school enrichment AND out of school/club programming to promote mental & physical health
- SEL, character education, conflict resolution/bullying, self-esteem/confidence, anger management, sports/physical activity, nutrition, healthy living
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- Vision and other health screenings; immunization support
- Mental health support/counseling for students
- Development of outdoor track, soccer fields, play areas
- Development of onsite health clinic
- Event partners for health fairs
- School or community garden development and support
- Volunteer adult mentors for struggling students
HOW CAN YOU HELP?
Review the common asks listed above, or check out Community Achieves schools' site-specific asks in the box below. Then, respond to the Health & Wellness Invitation to Participate by submitting a response via the form to the right!
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Site-Specific Needs & Asks
NEEDS & ASKS BY CLUSTER
Antioch Cluster • Cane Ridge Cluster • Glencliff Cluster • Hunters Lane Cluster • Maplewood Cluster • McGavock Cluster • Overton Cluster • Pearl-Cohn Cluster • Stratford Cluster • Whites Creek Cluster
NEEDS & ASKS BY INDIVIDUAL SCHOOL
Antioch High • Bailey Middle • Buena Vista Elementary • Cole Elementary • Creswell Middle • DuPont Hadley Middle • Gra-Mar Middle • Hunters Lane High • Inglewood Elementary • Jere Baxter Middle • Joelton Middle • Margaret Allen Middle • McKissack Middle • Napier Elementary • Pearl-Cohn High • Tusculum Elementary • Whitsitt Elementary
2014-15 MNPS data on discipline incidents show that fighting and other threats remain a concern at Antioch.
Although Antioch has seen a decrease in incidents of fighting observed in 2014-15, Antioch is inviting community organizations and individuals to partner with the school to provide after school, on-site mentoring, or other programs geared toward social and emotional wellness. The school also wants external support to provide on-site workshops on anger management, self-esteem building, and emotional awareness during school lunch hours or after school.
Regarding students’ physical health, based on screenings and data provided by MNPS Coordinated School Health, 39% of our students are obese and overweight. Furthermore, day-to-day interactions with the student population indicate a real need to assist female students with as-needed, often urgent, general health care. To address this need, Antioch would like to partner and develop relationships with local health care clinics and/or providers who would be willing to see students, in their facilities, on an appointment or as-needed basis. Student insurance coverage will vary.
Antioch administration, faculty, and staff have also identified the need for vision screenings, referrals, exams, and correction (i.e., glasses and/or contact lenses) among many students. We are inviting external organizations and/or individuals to help us address this barrier to learning.
According to data collected by MNPS Coordinated School Health, 43% of Margaret Allen students are overweight or obese. Margaret Allen would like to use the existing school garden to address healthy living with our students and their families. We are inviting community organizations and individuals to promote the garden and a Garden Club.
MNPS Coordinated School Health data show that 41% of Cole’s students were classified as overweight or obese, based on 2014-15 measurements.
To address this need among our students, Cole is inviting community organizations to sponsor or provide afterschool clubs, sports, or other physical activities to our students. Cole would also like to build and utilize a community garden to promote health and wellness. Because almost 95% of our students are classified as economically disadvantaged, these afterschool opportunities will need to be provided free of charge or on a sliding scale.
In 2014-15, through community funding and support, Cole built a playground and developed part of their fields, which has been used to maximize physical activity at recess, provide space for YMCA afterschool program, for community use, and for general physical education. We are inviting community organizations and individuals to partner with the school to develop and strategically plan continued growth of outdoor areas for our students and families to engage in physical exercise, including an outdoor track.
Cole has identified the CASTLES program (Communities and Students Together for Learning Enhanced Service) through the Vanderbilt School of Nursing as an approach we would like to use to integrate health and wellness promotion with student academic growth. The program has several potential implementation components, but relies on community organizations and individuals to be trained to deliver the program to the students. We are especially interested in providing Health Engagement Workshops, much akin to cooking classes for parents and students, for our families.
Based on data provided by MNPS Coordinated School Health, 41% of our students are classified as overweight or obese.
Whitsitt is starting a Garden Club that will meet every Wednesday after school hours, with hopes to sustain a garden that was gifted to the school in Summer 2015. Whitsitt is inviting community organizations and individuals to support the Garden Club with the overall goal to help educate our students on healthy eating and active living. To combine this with supports to address our family engagement needs, Whitsitt also wishes to partner with an organization or individual to provide information and skills for healthy eating and healthy food preparation in an open kitchen type of educational/interactive setting.
Additionally, to address the high percentage of obese and overweight students, Whitsitt is looking to engage partners to provide other programming that supports physical health, such as swim lessons for our young students.
Whitsitt ES is in “priority school” status, which provides for faculty to undergo planning and professional development on every third Monday of the month to work on instructional strategies and team building from 8:20 to 10 am starting on Sept. 21. While faculty undergoes planning and professional development, Whitsitt ES is inviting community organizations and individuals to partner with the school to provide enrichment activities that address the social emotional learning (SEL) needs. We are looking for partners to provide classes, clubs, or supports that focus on self-control, self-esteem, confidence, or the other SEL competencies, including self awareness, self management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision making.
The Tell Survey administered to school faculty and staff in Spring 2015 suggests that our students are still in need of Social Emotional Learning opportunities to deal with anger appropriately. Also, because the school saw no improvement in discipline data, we would like to bring in more character development and social emotional programing for our students.
Gra-Mar Middle Prep is in need of organizations that can provide Character Development Classes and Conflict Resolution Workshops to our students. The classes and or workshops can happen either before school from 8:00 am to 8:55 am or after school from 3:55 pm to 4:55 pm. We are even open to having these services once a month during club time.
According to our BMI assessments done by MNPS Coordinated School Health, for the 2014-2015 school year over 35 percent of students were classified as overweight or obese.
To address the unhealthy weight of many of our students, JBMS has added 20 minutes of recess to the schedule each day, during which teachers take students outside to walk on walking paths around the building. JBMS will start be a site for Girls on the Run this school year, which will enroll approximately 10 female students in an afterschool running and character education program. We are looking for additional partners to provide afterschool, on-site programming to our many students need supports across areas of health and wellness, social emotional learning, and general enrichment. We are especially looking for fitness programs that can engage entire families.
Jere Baxter Middle Prep will be renovating our garden to be used for our families and students to help to educate them on healthier food choices and menu options. Jere Baxter Middle Prep is seeking partners to support our community garden, to achieve the goal of sending our kids home with healthy food and teaching them how to cook healthy meals on a budget.
JBMP will also take part in the snack program that metro offers to give fresh fruit to students as a snack at the end of the school day. Jere Baxter would like to try and find a grant or a company/business to possibly donate healthy snacks for children to have at the end of each school day.
To help support the mental needs of our students we have student referrals for our guidance counselor as well as outside agencies to accommodate our students various needs. As of now Jere Baxter has a partnership with Vanderbilt mental health as well as social workers assigned to our school.
In 2014-15, 41% of the DHMP students were screened for vision and hearing. DHMP would like to have all students screened for vision, hearing, and dental for 2014-15. We are looking for community organizations and individuals to partner with use to achieve this goal. Additionally, the school would like to extend screenings to parents, and is looking for partners to assist with and/or provide these services.
MNPS and the Metropolitan Health Department are working to make DHMP a site for an MNPS Health Clinic, which will serve students and the community. We are seeking community organizations or individuals to help make this a reality and a success.
Over the past few years, DHMP has worked hard to address school climate issues related to behavioral disruptions. Our success can be seen in the reduction of the number of students involved in bullying or fighting discipline from 59 in 2012-13 to 20 in 2014-15. We are looking for community organizations or individuals to help the school maintain this success through programming, especially intramural activities and clubs. Intramural activities and clubs that also support healthy living are encouraged, to address efforts to reduce the percentage of students in the obese or overweight category, which was at 35% for 2014-15.
Napier Enhanced Option Elementary School:
Based on Body Mass index assessments conducted by MNPS Coordinated School Health in 2014-2015 showed that 38% of the students at Napier are overweight or obese.
According to staff at the school, only 38% of the students follow code of conduct at the school.
Napier currently engages the community in improving students' health and wellness through nutrition classes, community garden, mobile markets, Wellchild screenings, an Asthma intervention program, and a Healthy School team. We also host an annual Health Fair in the spring where community organizations partner with Napier to represent health-related organizations at the fair, distribute materials, and offer relevant services or screenings or our community cluster-wide. In the spring, Napier will partner with the Community Center to host a Health fair and we will need partners for this event.
Additionally, Napier Elementary is looking for partners who would be willing to work on the character education of the school in order to address discipline issues. In the past, Napier has implemented a character education program (FACES) to address discipline issues. Napier is inviting community organizations or individuals to work with students to deliver an anti-bullying curriculum or a similar character development program to students several days a week.
We are also looking for partners to help host or lead exercise classes for our parents and school community.
We are looking for partners willing to donate exercise equipment for a teacher wellness site here at Napier.
Of approximately 350 students participating in a hearing and vision screening in fall of 2014, 20% were referred as needing glasses. Hearing referrals were made for 3% of those screened. Metro Health Department’s Dental Sealant Program cleaned and screened over 400 children’s teeth at Tusculum in spring of 2015. Approximately 1/3rd were referred as needing dental work. Twelve kindergartners entered school with invalid or no immunization records in 2014-15. Language barriers, cultural habits, lack of transportation and work schedules make it difficult for parents to follow-up on in-school healthcare screening results.
BMI data from 2014-15 showed 22% of Tusculum students as obese with an additional 15% classified as overweight.
Counselors from Matthew Walker are available weekly at the FRC to work with families in need of health insurance, and more often, as needed, for scheduled groups. Tusculum has top-notch physical education teachers, who coordinate Spring Field Day, train a fourth grade basketball team, and train and send a team of runners to the Kids Rock Music City Kid’s marathon. Community partner, Nashville Striders, provides running shoes for all participants.
Tusculum seeks to develop additional partnerships to facilitate follow-up for the students referred for additional care after screenings, increasing the number of students that receive needed services.
Tusculum seeks assistance with strategic planning to improve access to neighborhood healthcare, nutrition and wellness classes, mental health resources to decrease obesity, increase immunization rate and improve access to healthy food.
Buena Vista Enhanced Option Elementary School:
Based on Body Mass Index (BMI) assessments conducted by MNPS Coordinated School Health, 30 percent of the BVEOES students are considered overweight or obese.
Beyond physical health, our students at BVEOES have significant mental health needs. Research shows that children living in poor neighborhoods are more likely to suffer traumatic incidents, and are more likely to be encumbered with daily stressors. This includes food and housing insecurity, overcrowding, and/or household stress. This type of trauma manifests itself in behavioral episodes at school. In the 2014-2015 school year, BVEOES recorded 27 episodes of fighting and 14 episodes of assault against another student.
BVEOES invites individuals and organizations to assist in increasing students’ physical health and wellness. BVEOES has an outdated playground that currently does not allow for students to play and move around as much as school staff and students would like. BVEOES would benefit greatly from new and updated playground equipment that would facilitate healthy play.
BVEOES is starting a Girls on the Run program, a mentoring program focused on emotional and physical wellness for fourth grade girls. Individuals are encouraged to volunteer their time as a coach to run with and encourage the girls who are participating in the program.
Additionally, volunteers can also participate in our new Girl Scouts troop, which also meets after school and focuses on wellness and character development.
BVEOES recently acquired a new Community Garden featuring fresh fruits and vegetables. BVEOES seeks partners who are interested in helping to maintain and harvest the garden, while also working with the school to educate parents and students about urban gardening and healthy eating/cooking.
To support students with their mental health needs, BVEOES invites individuals and organizations to volunteer within the school to teach/encourage character-based learning, making good choices and emotional regulation. BVEOES also encourages individuals to volunteer as mentors in our school through the Big Brothers Big Sisters site-based program.
BVEOES has a substantial need for mentors and programming for our male students both during and after school. BVEOES welcomes any partner interested in being a mentor, or starting a club/sport group with our male students. This can be during school, or after school hours. We have several opportunities for mentorship and welcome male volunteers interested in partnering with our school.
The MMP Healthy School Team self-rated the school with a 2 out of 5 for assisting faculty and staff in balancing work and home to manage stress and in providing students/parents with health services information/programs.
Additionally, based on data provided by MNPS Coordinated School Health, 40% of our students are considered overweight/obese.
As for mental and behavioral health, MMP sees a need to ensure the school rules of conduct are clear and consistent: ratings from the TellTN survey show that only 72% of faculty and staff believe students follow rules of conduct and only 76% of teachers/administrators enforce the rules of conduct. Also, while incidents of fighting and bullying have decreased over the past few years, MMP sees a need to continue to provide anti-bullying programming to further reduce incidents.
MMP is inviting community organizations and individuals to partner with the school to address the needs stated above by providing anti-bullying programming, guest speakers about conflict resolution and bullying, incentives to encourage students as they work through restorative circles and displaying positive behavior, and long-term male role models for boys, and female role models for girls.
MMP wishes to create a "Confidence Campaign" and would like external partners to plan with the school on how best to develop and promote this program.
Pearl-Cohn Entertainment Management Magnet High School:
2014-15 MNPS data on discipline incidents show that fighting and other threats remain a concern at Pearl-Cohn.
To address the increased incidents of fighting observed in 2014-15, Pearl-Cohn is inviting community organizations and individuals to partner with the school to provide after school, on-site mentoring, or other programs geared toward social and emotional wellness. The school also wants external support to provide on-site workshops on anger management, self-esteem building, and emotional awareness during school lunch hours or after school.
Regarding students’ physical health, based on screenings and data provided by MNPS Coordinated School Health, 41% of our students are obese and overweight, with 21% of students categorized as obese in 2014-2015. Furthermore, day-to-day interactions with the student population indicate a real need to assist female students with as-needed, often urgent, general health care. To address this need, Pearl-Cohn would like to partner and develop relationships with local health care clinics and/or providers who would be willing to see students, in their facilities, on an appointment or as-needed basis. Student insurance coverage will vary.
Pearl-Cohn administration, faculty, and staff have also identified the need for vision screenings, referrals, exams, and correction (i.e., glasses and/or contact lenses) among many students. We are inviting external organizations and/or individuals to help us address this barrier to learning.
Bailey saw a decrease in bullying and fighting in the 2014-2015 school year. To continue that positive trend Bailey will continue the Scholar Support/Culture Team Meetings, Support and Intervention Meetings, and Restorative Justice. Bailey will add the Olweus Bullying Program and the Navigating the Teens Years Program.
To focus efforts on improving the physical health of students, while maintaining a focus on STEM, Bailey would like to offer enrichment activities that tie health (e.g., physical activity and cooking or nutrition programming) to STEM themes. Bailey offers STEM elective classes to students during regular school hours. Bailey is inviting organizations and individuals to partner with teachers to enhance these STEM elective classes beginning on September 10 and running weekly on Thursdays for 16 weeks from 3 – 3:50. Specifically, we would like partners that can integrate physical activity or cooking and nutrition with STEM themes during these elective class periods. Class sizes will vary from 12 -15 students. For a list of some of the electives offered in the past, visit the website: http://baileyms.mnps.org/pages/BaileySTEMMagnetMS/Academics/STEM_Electives
In the 2015 TELL TN survey, only 60% of the faculty and staff agreed “Students at this school follow rules of conduct.” IES would like to reduce the number of discipline incidents by 10%. To achieve a reduction in behavior incidents, IES invites community partners to provide volunteer lunch buddies, classroom partners, and recess and dismissal monitors. Volunteers will provide more support to teachers by engaging students, monitoring their behavior in the lunchroom, classroom, recess and dismissal.
Based on 2014-15 data provided by MNPS Coordinated School Health, 37% of the IES students were overweight or obese. IES will execute several events this year, such as Jump Rope for Life and Field Day, to engage families and students in fun, healthy-lifestyle activities. IES invites community organizations and individuals to partner with us in support of these healthy family events. Support needed includes volunteer time, acquisition or sponsoring of t-shirts and signage, giveaways/incentives/awards, etc. We also invite community partners to display or provide informational materials at these events to help educate our families and neighbors about healthy lifestyle resources.
Creswell Arts Magnet Middle Prep:
Based on Body Mass Index (BMI) assessments conducted by MNPS Coordinated School Health, 39% of Creswell students are considered overweight or obese.
In a parent survey on school safety, only 41% of Creswell parents felt their students had not been affected by bullying and harassment at the school.
Creswell Middle Prep School of the Arts is inviting community organizations, businesses and individuals to partner with the school to develop build, and strategically plan continued growth of outdoor areas for our students and families to engage in physical exercise, including an outdoor track and soccer field.
Creswell utilizes several internal structures and processes to address behavior. Creswell is inviting community organizations and individuals to partner with the school to provide on-site programming and mentoring with students that address character education and acceptance of differences. This programming could occur during an Advisory period or lunch twice a week, which spans the 10:45 to 12:30 time period; it could also occur after school hours.
Data from the 2014 Tell TN survey shows that Joelton has identified needing improvements in the following areas to increase health and wellness; students following the rules of conduct, bullying and fighting.
Joelton is looking for partners/mentors who are willing to work on student character education with the school, in order to address discipline issues. Joelton invites individuals and organizations to work with students to decrease aggressive behavior and bullying and to address respect for themselves and others.