Children- Their
Future Depends on
What We Do Today
Coordinated School
Health:
A Model Plan
The Initial Plan


Vision – Within 3 years barriers to
learning will be reduced to allow
students the opportunity to learn
Mission – Service deliveries to
students through school and
community in order to improve
student, staff, school and community
performance
The Measurable Goals
• Decrease Dropout Rates by 3%
• Increase graduation rates by 2%
• Increase attendance to:
Elementary 97%
Middle and High to 95%
• Decrease lost days by 3% to Health and
Behavior Problems
• Improve equity of opportunities and
services by 50% for all students
Moving from a 2 to a 3 component
model for school improvement

Instruction
Enabling
School
Student
Family
Community
Management
Our Population

Mobile County Public
Schools
• 65,000 students
•43,485 or 67 %
are Title One Students
Enhancing School Effectiveness
by Addressing
Enhancing School Effectiveness
Barriers
to
Student
Learning
by Addressing
Health Services
Barriers to Student Learning
 Transportation
Services

Through Coordinated
Efforts
Health Services - $700,000

12 Registered Nursing Positions
•
•
•
•
Travel-local, state and national
Staff Development
Equipment and Supplies
Audio visual materials/ reference
materials
Direct Student Services
•Doctor, Dentist visits
•Counseling
•Medication and
medical equipment
Student Mental/Emotional Needs
“School systems are not responsible
for meeting every need of their
students. But, when the need
directly affects learning, the school
must meet the challenge.”

Carnegie Task Force on Education
Support Team Referrals
Transformed/Priority Schools
FY 2005
Referrals






Medical
Academic
Counseling/Mental Health
Attendance
Social
Other
157
48
364
146
109
68
Impact of Health Services
Interventions at all MCPSS Schools

Attendance Data:
Q2 04 – Q2 05
48% of the schools increased attendance from 04-05

Grade Comparison
Q1 05 - Q2 05
65% of students (with grades posted on DAISI) who
were helped with medical care this school year
brought up their grades
Health Services

“School nursing is a specialized practice of
professional nursing that advances the
well being, academic success, and lifelong achievements of students. To that
end, school nurses facilitate positive
student responses to normal growth and
development; promote health and safety;
intervene with actual and potential health
problems; provide case management
services; and actively collaborate with
others to build student and family capacity
for adaptation, self management, self
advocacy and learning.”
12 Nurses caring for over 45,000 students
who have been identified eligible to receive
Title I services
Evaluation of Services FY 2004
School Visits
5506
Home Visits
230
Other Visits
398
(MD visits, hospitals, community agencies, etc.)
Conferences
24939
Nursing Investigations
Communicable Disease
Title I
2927
Headlice
1389
Processed
4272
Impetigo
26
Referrals
Ringworm
161
Scoliosis
348
Scabies
4
Dental
2520
Miscellaneous
Hearing
733
Medical
1564
Vision
1849
ADHD
779
Abuse
247
Suicide
29
The Problem Addressed
In The Media
USATODAY.com - Nurse shortage puts school kids at risk
USATODAY.com - In Mass. district, nurses take proactive role in
kids' health
USATODAY.com - Utah mom on mission in state with few nurses
USATODAY.com - Instead of a nurse, a locked door
USATODAY.com - Breathing complications leave girl brain
damaged
USATODAY.com - School blamed in boy's death
The McComb Healthy Schools Project
2003
The Safety Net:
The McComb Nine Component
Coordinated School
Health, Wellness and Safety Model
McComb School District
Dr. Pat Cooper, Superintendent
695 Minnesota Avenue
P.O. Box 868
McComb, MS 39649
(601) 684-4661
Msd1
The McComb Healthy Schools
Project
The Safety Net: The McComb
Nine Component
Coordinated School Health,
Wellness and Safety Model
What is the Safety Net?











The Safety Net is a coordinated school health and wellness
model developed by the McComb School District in 1996 to
improve the health, social and academic outcomes and
experiences for children in the district’s schools.
The nine program components that make up the Safety Net
are:
Academic Opportunity
Community and Parent Involvement
Counseling and Psychological Services
Health Instruction
Health Services
Healthy Nutrition
Physical Education
Safe and Healthy School Environment
Staff Health and Wellness
What are the results of the
Safety Net?


Significant increases in reading, language and
math test scores on the MCT and Terra Nova.
Overall, one group of children moved from the
30th percentile to the 47th percentile on the
Terra Nova test within four years. In 2000, these
46.5% of these children were in the bottom
quarter, four years later only 22.6% of them
were. MCT scores for 2nd – 8th grade reading,
language and math increased by 32.8 to 80.4
points.
The graduation rate has increased from 77.03%
in 1996-97 to 90.97% in 2002-03. This is nearly
10% higher than the state average.


Prior to 2001-02, an average of 39.4 children
were dropping out of school. After the
implementation of a positive discipline program,
only 14.5 children were dropping out.
The McComb School District’s special education
inclusion rate is double that of the state of
Mississippi. We ranked 1st in providing special
education services within general education
classrooms. Also the total number of special
education students has decreased from 443,
1997 to 375, 2004.



Only 3% of teens in our Teen Parent
Program had a repeat teen pregnancy
before the age of 20, compared to 23.5%
for Mississippi and 20.9% for the United
States. None of our students had a repeat
pregnancy while still in the McComb
School District.
A decrease of 59% was seen in juvenile
crime arrests out of school.
Decreases of more than 42% in
suspensions/detentions and 33% in
expulsions have occurred since the Safe
Schools component was initiated.
The McComb Healthy Schools
Project has provided this safety net
for all levels of students through:


A strong core academic curriculum that
includes Advanced Placement and gifted
classes, a strong vocational-technical
component and an effective special
education inclusion program.
A health clinic with at least one school
nurse and therapist at every school.


Student Assistance Teams (SAT) at each
school to address individual student needs
using a pro-active preventive approach,
coordinated services and an effective
referral system for services not provided
by the school district.
A safe learning environment conducive to
learning with landscaped and renovated
facilities, security officers on-site and a
customer friendly staff with a motivating
attitude.



Access to on-site child-care and a
wellness program for employees.
Parent training in literacy, parenting,
and family violence prevention.
A program that encourages and
supports teen parents to stay in
school and provides childcare for
their infants.
Their Mission
“… committed and nurturing
community taking responsibility
every day for positively impacting
the physical, social and academic
well-being of every child and
challenging him to become an
extraordinary individual empowered
to change the world.”
The Brutal Facts

McComb is a small rural community in Pike
County, Mississippi. It is a close knit community
with many strengths and more than a few
challenges. Many of our children live in high
poverty neighborhoods and, because so many
children qualified for free or reduced meals, all
schools except the high school now provide all
children with free meals. At the high school,
75% of the students qualify for free or reduced
meals. The following data describes some of the
challenges facing the children in our community
and in surrounding Pike County.

Research indicates that children today are
not as healthy as the generation before
them and are developing lifelong
addictions to drugs, alcohol, cigarettes
and other forms of tobacco in increasing
numbers. They are not as physically
active, have poor diets and are exposed
daily to dangers in their environments.
One negative consequence leads to
another and, before long, too many of our
children are on a Wheel of Misfortune that
only swallows up more and more of our
citizenry each generation.
“[Children]… who face violence,
hunger, substance abuse,
unintended pregnancy, and despair
cannot possibly focus on academic
excellence. There is no curriculum
brilliant enough to compensate for a
hungry stomach or a distracted
mind.
National Action Plan for
Comprehensive School Health
Education, American Cancer Society,
1992
“73% of adults from a nationally
representative sample felt that
health education in schools was
definitely necessary.”
Mid-Continent Research for Education
& Learning Survey, 1998
Establishing the Infrastructure

The heart of the plan concentrated
on the health of our students and
families. Maslow’s Hierarchy of
Needs served as the basis of our
infrastructure and school health as
the mechanism for attaining results
and successful reform. School
programs were specifically designed
to address each need:
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Coordinated School Health
Program
1. Physical Health-Health Services, Physical
Education, Staff Wellness, Food and Nutrition
2. Safety and Free of Fear-Safe and Healthy
Environment
3. Sense of Belonging & Being Loved-Counseling,
Integrated Community/School Health
4. Positive Self-Esteem- Counseling/Achievement
5. Motivated and Learning- Academic Opportunities
McComb Nine Component Coordinated
School Health, Wellness and Safety Model

Academic Opportunity- Early
identification and individualized
strategies ensure children are
prepared for success. Teachers have
sufficient time to teach and students
have sufficient time to learn.


Community & Parent InvolvementAn integrated school, parent and
community approach that establishes
a dynamic partnership to enhance
the health and well-being of
students.
Counseling & Psychological ServicesServices provided include broadbased individual and group
assessments, interventions,
counseling and referrals that attend
to the emotional and social health of
students.


Health Instruction-A planned,
sequential, PreK-12th grade
curriculum is provided that addresses
all dimensions of health where the
focus is on health literacy to enhance
each student’s independent thinking
skills and decision making.
Healthy Nutrition-Healthy, nutritious
and appealing snacks and meals are
provided for staff and students.


Health Services-Services are
provided for students in a clinic
setting to assess, protect and
promote health.
Physical Education-A planned,
sequential, PreK-12th grade
curriculum that provides cognitive
content and learning experiences in
physical fitness and individual, dual
and team sports.

Safe & Healthy School EnvironmentPhysical and aesthetic surroundings
and psychosocial climate and culture
in schools that maximizes the health
of students and staff. A safe and
attractive learning environment
where self-esteem, effective
communication and respectful
interpersonal relationships is
promoted.

Staff Health & WellnessProgramming for staff that provides
health assessments, education and
fitness activities and mirrors the
district’s commitment to healthy
lifestyles.
The Beginning



He had proactive leadership
He implemented the program
step by step
He focused on program supports
He did lots of Research and
Evaluation to gain funding sources.

For example, when the McComb
School District’s nurses wanted to
screen elementary school children for
hypertension, there were no models
for doing this so they created one.
The results of the screenings were
published in cooperation with the
National Association of School Nurses
in February 2001.
Staff Resources

– Never underestimate the power of
having the right staff in the right
positions. It is a critical factor in
implementing such a comprehensive
school health initiative. Once you have
the right staff on board, cultivate their
leadership skills and give them the
freedom to act in the best interests of the
community’s vision. Applaud results and
discuss problems as they appear, and they
will appear. Insist on accountability as
displayed by data results.


1.
2.
3.
Technology
Coordination
They support health and
wellness for everyone in the
school environment.
They recognize and support the
potential of every student.
They keep their eyes on the
prize
The Road Ahead

McComb’s Nine Component
Coordinated School Health program
creates that foundation for our
children, teachers and staff. Caring
teachers, unique methods of
instruction, and non-traditional time
frames are the bridges that students
can use to become healthy and
productive citizens in our community.
Coordinated School Health
(http://mnschoolhealth.com/article.ht
ml?z=6373&b=index2&articleID=060
125094500-137417)

“Our challenge is to continue to
build the bridge while walking
across it to a healthier tomorrow
for our children.”