Boston Public Schools forum draws more than 250 community leaders to focus on health disparities Superintendent Johnson outlines the district’s strategic plan to address non-academic barriers to student success
Contact Information:
BPS Communications Office 617-635-9265
communications@bostonpublicschools.org
December 13, 2011
BOSTON — More than 250 community leaders – including educators, parents, health providers, non-profit partners, elected officials, and funders – gathered at the Boston Public Library today to address strategies for eliminating health disparities and closing achievement gaps in the Boston Public Schools.
The forum, hosted by the BPS Health and Wellness Task Force, featured a keynote address by Dr. Charles Basch from Columbia University Teachers College. Dr. Basch’s remarks, titled “Healthier Students are Better Learners: A Missing Link in School Reform,” highlighted the importance of nutrition, physical activity, mental health services, and other factors to ensure strong academic performance.
BPS Superintendent Dr. Carol R. Johnson presented an update on “Healthy Connections,” the district’s new strategic plan for health and wellness. She underscored the need to address non-academic barriers to learning – such as obesity, teen pregnancy, vision problems, mental health issues, and asthma – to prepare all students for college and career success after high school.
Dr. Johnson outlined numerous strategies in recent years to improve the health of BPS students, including investments in physical education, after-school sports and other physical activity, nutritious breakfast and lunch programs, and health education, as well as district-wide policies approved by the Boston School Committee to promote healthier school environments.
“Our schools have a responsibility to help children achieve their full personal and academic potential,” said Dr. Johnson. “Critical to meeting this responsibility is ensuring that our children arrive to school every day ready to learn. More than anything, this means that children are in good health — that they are adequately fed and eating healthy, physically fit and emotionally well.”
Dr. Johnson noted that more than $2 million in federal stimulus funding to support BPS efforts in student health and wellness will expire at the end of this school year. She challenged community leaders to help schools overcome this significant loss of funding through sustained, ongoing partnerships focused on eliminating health disparities.
Dr. Basch encouraged urban school districts in particular to align school health efforts, saying, “Effective coordination ensures that all of the different school health policies, programs, and services are collectively aimed at achieving a particular set of priorities.”
The BPS “Healthy Connections” strategic plan is rooted in the Centers for Disease Control’s Coordinated School Health Model, which brings together various expertise and resources to address the health and wellness of all students in order to ensure academic success.
Mayor Thomas M. Menino was unable to attend the event but affirmed the City’s commitment to improving the health of Boston’s children and families in and out of school.
“Schools and families have to work together to teach our children healthy habits to last a lifetime,” said Mayor Menino. “If students learn at a young age about the importance of staying physically active and eating well, they are much more likely to grow up to become healthy, successful adults.”
“It is imperative, particularly in this economic climate, to coordinate services, resources, and strategies so that our students are healthy and therefore more ready and able to learn,” said Jill Carter, Executive Director of the Boston Public Schools Health and Wellness Department.
The forum included a roundtable discussion among community leaders, including: City Councilor Ayanna Pressley; Dr. Barbara Ferrer, Executive Director of the Boston Public Health Commission; Jake Murray, Director of the Aspire Institute at Wheelock College; John Riordan, Director of Community Partnerships at Children’s Hospital Boston; Allison Bauer, Program Director at the Boston Foundation; Virginia Chalmers, Principal of Young Achievers Math & Science Pilot School; Opal Hines-Fisher, school nurse at Madison Park Technical-Vocational High School; and Mary White, a BPS parent and member of the Boston Healthy Homes and Schools Collaborative. To highlight innovative approaches to physical activity, the forum opened with a “Gymcraftics” performance by students from the Rafael Hernandez Bilingual School in Roxbury.
The event was co-sponsored by the Boston Public Health Commission, Boston Education Funders, Children’s Hospital Boston, Massachusetts General Hospital, New England Dairy and Food Council, and Partners HealthCare.
For more information, visit www.bpshealthyconnections.org.
BPS Communications Office 617-635-9265
communications@bostonpublicschools.org
December 13, 2011
BOSTON — More than 250 community leaders – including educators, parents, health providers, non-profit partners, elected officials, and funders – gathered at the Boston Public Library today to address strategies for eliminating health disparities and closing achievement gaps in the Boston Public Schools.
The forum, hosted by the BPS Health and Wellness Task Force, featured a keynote address by Dr. Charles Basch from Columbia University Teachers College. Dr. Basch’s remarks, titled “Healthier Students are Better Learners: A Missing Link in School Reform,” highlighted the importance of nutrition, physical activity, mental health services, and other factors to ensure strong academic performance.
BPS Superintendent Dr. Carol R. Johnson presented an update on “Healthy Connections,” the district’s new strategic plan for health and wellness. She underscored the need to address non-academic barriers to learning – such as obesity, teen pregnancy, vision problems, mental health issues, and asthma – to prepare all students for college and career success after high school.
Dr. Johnson outlined numerous strategies in recent years to improve the health of BPS students, including investments in physical education, after-school sports and other physical activity, nutritious breakfast and lunch programs, and health education, as well as district-wide policies approved by the Boston School Committee to promote healthier school environments.
“Our schools have a responsibility to help children achieve their full personal and academic potential,” said Dr. Johnson. “Critical to meeting this responsibility is ensuring that our children arrive to school every day ready to learn. More than anything, this means that children are in good health — that they are adequately fed and eating healthy, physically fit and emotionally well.”
Dr. Johnson noted that more than $2 million in federal stimulus funding to support BPS efforts in student health and wellness will expire at the end of this school year. She challenged community leaders to help schools overcome this significant loss of funding through sustained, ongoing partnerships focused on eliminating health disparities.
Dr. Basch encouraged urban school districts in particular to align school health efforts, saying, “Effective coordination ensures that all of the different school health policies, programs, and services are collectively aimed at achieving a particular set of priorities.”
The BPS “Healthy Connections” strategic plan is rooted in the Centers for Disease Control’s Coordinated School Health Model, which brings together various expertise and resources to address the health and wellness of all students in order to ensure academic success.
Mayor Thomas M. Menino was unable to attend the event but affirmed the City’s commitment to improving the health of Boston’s children and families in and out of school.
“Schools and families have to work together to teach our children healthy habits to last a lifetime,” said Mayor Menino. “If students learn at a young age about the importance of staying physically active and eating well, they are much more likely to grow up to become healthy, successful adults.”
“It is imperative, particularly in this economic climate, to coordinate services, resources, and strategies so that our students are healthy and therefore more ready and able to learn,” said Jill Carter, Executive Director of the Boston Public Schools Health and Wellness Department.
The forum included a roundtable discussion among community leaders, including: City Councilor Ayanna Pressley; Dr. Barbara Ferrer, Executive Director of the Boston Public Health Commission; Jake Murray, Director of the Aspire Institute at Wheelock College; John Riordan, Director of Community Partnerships at Children’s Hospital Boston; Allison Bauer, Program Director at the Boston Foundation; Virginia Chalmers, Principal of Young Achievers Math & Science Pilot School; Opal Hines-Fisher, school nurse at Madison Park Technical-Vocational High School; and Mary White, a BPS parent and member of the Boston Healthy Homes and Schools Collaborative. To highlight innovative approaches to physical activity, the forum opened with a “Gymcraftics” performance by students from the Rafael Hernandez Bilingual School in Roxbury.
The event was co-sponsored by the Boston Public Health Commission, Boston Education Funders, Children’s Hospital Boston, Massachusetts General Hospital, New England Dairy and Food Council, and Partners HealthCare.
For more information, visit www.bpshealthyconnections.org.
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