Molly Stark School in Bennington, Vermont, is a year-round community school that offers a range of education, health and social services benefiting the students, community, and parents. Five successful initiatives (after-school, birth-to-5, mentoring, health and wellness, and parent literacy and involvement programs) are described. (MLH)

A 1987 model for a coordinated school health program included a healthy environment, comprehensive health education, physical education, health and nutrition services, counseling, staff health promotion, and family and community involvement. Effective programs in two low-resource areas--Providence, Rhode Island, and Animas, New Mexico--are…

Many U.S. schools offer a varied, often uncoordinated array of student support services. Improvement-oriented partnerships identified by the American School Health Association include collaborations with school psychologists, physical educators, social workers, and community and public-health agencies; and provision of parent-education and…

Identifying, securing, and sustaining funding are the greatest challenges to establishing and maintaining school health programs. A federal/state government alliance (the School Health Program Finance Project) provides funding information; foundations and businesses provide substantial financial support. Districts should employ resource mapping to…

Numerous federal and health-promotion agencies recommend increasing youngsters' physical activity levels to 30 to 60 accumulated minutes daily. The National Association for Sports and Physical Education has developed national standards that define a physically educated person. High-quality program components and learning activities are described.…

Although after-school programs offer many activities--from cooking classes to computer technology, homework assistance, and sports--they also provide an effective environment for health education and wellness instruction, especially pregnancy prevention. Exemplary programs for middle- and high-schoolers in Palm Beach County, Florida, are…

Drug Strategies' updated guide evaluates the 50 most popular U.S. prevention programs. Project ALERT scored high in overall quality, administrative ease, and rehearsal and role plays. Key components include age appropriateness, identification of social pressures, instruction in refusal skills, interactivity, normative education, family…

School personnel must know which students have asthma, typical warning signs, and appropriate actions in an emergency. Administering appropriate medication and reducing environmental triggers are not enough. Policymaking in schools and workplaces and legislation to increase health care access and eliminate substandard housing and air pollution are…

Nutrition and learning are inextricably connected. Protein, fat, B vitamins, iron, choline, and antioxidants promote brain functions. The USDA's "Food Guide Pyramid for Young Children" (and adaptations for school-age kids) offers guidelines for formulating a child's diet. Breakfast, family meal-sharing, and exercise are essential. (Contains 23…

The brain needs energy, oxygen, and water to operate. Access to the bathroom pass can become a major conflict between teachers and students and has great potential for disrupting classes. The classroom can be humanized by granting more bathroom passes and allowing water bottles. (MLH)

Policies play an important role in shaping school environments. Schools with healthy, well-maintained physical environments signal that students are valued. Policies built around equal opportunities, valued teachers, and family and community engagement strengthen a school's psychosocial environment. Coordinated school health program policies…

Despite the 1998 Children's Online Privacy Act's supposed protections, most web sites still collect personal information and post no privacy statements. Internet-filtering software packages are described and suggestions given for creating a safe environment, dismantling "cookies," informing parents and teachers, and checking "history" submenus on…

School buildings ideally would have few exterior access points, no isolated hallways, and sunlit classrooms. A safety checklist recommends locating offices near main doors, monitoring hallway traffic, enhancing communications, updating crisis-management plans, teaching coping skills, standardizing dismissal policies, and ensuring legal compliance…

Violence-prevention policies stress high-tech security measures and zero tolerance over compassion. Student policing is intensifying, despite declining youth violence, rarity of shootings, and failure of police protection. Suburban youth violence is rooted in masculinity misconceptions and sexual harassment. Education, not retribution, should…

At a New York City school, a parent's death is a community tragedy. Caring for a bereaved student requires a generous investment of time and heart: participation in bereavement rituals; acceptance of wide-ranging emotions; increased individual attention; reliable, consistent routines; physical warmth and comforting; and gentle, honest dialogue.…