School Health Programs
Working with and through
State School Boards Associations, NSBA's School Health Programs department helps school policymakers and educators make informed decisions about health issues affecting the academic achievement and healthy development of students and the management of schools.
Why Is School Health Important?
Research shows that when school districts and schools have effective policies and practices that support the health of their students and staff:
- Student and staff absenteeism decreases
- Student concentration improves
- Student behavior problems are reduced
- Children and adolescents establish life-long health-promoting behaviors
NSBA's
Beliefs and Policies recognize the critical link between health and learning and the role of schools to further the well-being of students and the greater school community.
This website is your source for information on policy and practice related to a coordinated approach to health issues relevant to schools. Explore the sidebars to the right to access the School Health Resource Database, "101" packets of information, announcements of new resources and special events, promising practices from across the country, NSBA health-related publications, links to other websites, and much more.
This site contains links to HIV Prevention messages and materials that are intended to educate PK-12 public school policy makers and professionals to inform their decisions about policy and practice. These messages may not be appropriate for all audiences. Materials related to HIV that have been published by NSBA with support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been reviewed and approved by a national program review panel.
Looking for more information? See what’s Inside School Health Programs
on the right.
Additional Resources
What School Boards Can Do to Enhance Student Health and Learning
This 2010 resource applies concepts from NSBA’s Key Work of School Boards and gives concrete actions school boards can take to support a coordinated approach to health. School Health staff worked with the American School Health Association (ASHA) and its Council for Administrative Support for School Health to develop this resource and a parallel resource for administrators. State associations and other NSBA staff were also involved in its development.
Families as Partners: Fostering Family Engagement for Healthy and Successful Students
This NSBA document provides an overview of family engagement particularly as it relates to school health. Included in the document are “Tools to Use” boxes that contain sample family engagement policies, evidence-based practices, example family engagement surveys, and more. This publication is downloadable for free, but printed copies can also be purchased through NSBA's Bookstore.
Safe at School and Ready to Learn: A Comprehensive Policy Guide for Protecting Students with Life-threatening Food Allergies
This policy guide details essential components of what constitutes a comprehensive food allergy policy, and many of the recommendations can be applied to other chronic health conditions. In addition, the guide provides a glossary of terms, valuable information sources and sample state and local education policies and features a "Food Allergy Policy Checklist" that can help you assess the extent to which this guide’s components are included in food allergy policy and implemented in practice.
*Please note that the version above prints best in color. This version is more suitable to print in black and white. This guide is downloadable for free, but printed copies can also be purchased through NSBA's Bookstore.