We work to improve the health and well-being of school-aged children across Caledonia, Southern Essex and Orange Counties. We support supervisory unions, school districts, community organizations, students and their families by helping with high-impact strategies that make a difference in health.
We help schools develop wellness teams to build a culture of good health and wellness using the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child model.
We assist school nurses so they can better support student and family access to health services. Learn more about how we work with school nurses.
Today’s students come to school with more challenges related to health and learning than ever before. Essential School Health Services focuses on improving student outcomes, school attendance, the mitigation of challenges such as chronic health conditions, complex medical needs, and other barriers related to social determinants of health, such as poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, food and housing insecurity, and lack of health care.
We help schools support access to medical care and promote medical and dental homes for children and youth. We support school and health care provider relationships and sharing health records. We support efforts to ensure families know recommended times for well-care visits, and what to expect at the visits following Bright Futures guidelines.
The 802 Smiles Network of School Dental Health Programs connects Vermont's various school dental health programs under one umbrella. Its goal is to eliminate oral health disparities and improve oral health for all Vermont children.
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The Health Department and the Vermont Agency of Education sponsor the Vermont Youth Risk Behavior Survey. The YRBS was developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to monitor priority health risk behaviors that contribute to the leading causes of death, disease, injury and social problems among middle and high school students. We share this public health data with schools and communities to promote response to decrease risk behaviors.
We encourage schools to use YRBS data to make decisions about how to support student health. One way to do this is the Getting to Y program, which is an opportunity for students to take a lead in bringing meaning to their own Youth Risk Behavior Survey data, and to take steps to strengthen their school and community.
We help schools get grants to support proven strategies such as Farm-to-School, and Girls on the Run. Find out more about strategies to improve health of Vermont’s school-aged children.
We help local education agencies to meet the objectives of the Medicaid Administrative Claiming agreement.
Phone: 802-748-5151
