About NSBA's School Health Programs
Our Mission
The National School Boards Association (NSBA) is committed to working with
State School Boards Associations to help school policymakers and educators make informed decisions about health issues affecting the academic achievement and healthy development of students and the effective operation of schools. In its
beliefs and policies, NSBA recognizes the critical link between health and learning and the role of schools in promoting life-long health and preventing health risk behaviors.
Program Support and Overview
NSBA's School Health Programs helps school policymakers make informed decisions by providing relevant and up-to-date information, technical assistance, and professional development on a variety of school health issues. Activities are supported by the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Adolescent and School Health (CDC/DASH), and NSBA.
With CDC/DASH cooperative agreement funding (U58/DP000419, U58/DP000390), NSBA is currently working on issues related to coordinated school health, an approach to addressing health issues systemically, and tobacco use prevention. In addition, through a sub-grant of the American Association of School Administrators' CDC/DASH cooperative agreement (U58/DP000398), NSBA is working with AASA on improving asthma management in schools. As feasible, topics of importance to school leaders such as wellness, HIV/AIDS, and food safety and food allergies are also addressed.
Previous support from
Leadership for Healthy Communities, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, facilitated NSBA's work on childhood obesity by increasing the leadership skills and actions of school policymakers to develop, adopt, and implement effective policies and practices that promote healthy eating, physical activity, and healthy social environments, especially among the most vulnerable populations.
Information and Resources
To assist
State School Boards Associations and others in the school community to make informed decisions, NSBA has developed this website and the
School Health Resource Database, a continually updated source of information and materials, including sample school district policies, journal articles, research summaries, fact sheets, and more. Several topics have been organized into
"101" packets designed to provide an overview of information related to the topic. The abstracts of entries in the Database contain bibliographic information and many include hyperlinks to the full text of materials available online.
Services
Project staff is able to assist with the development and technical review of local district policies related to school health topics. NSBA staff also work with State Associations, federal agencies, and other national organizations to provide educational programming on school health topics.
Contact
schoolhealth@nsba.org for more information about NSBA's School Health Programs.