Children’s National Boeing School Wellness Symposium brings together health and education leaders - Children's National

More than 200 attendees from 70 local and national organizations took part in a half-day, in-person School Wellness Symposium that fostered networking and spotlighted leading health and education partnerships that are advancing student wellness. The event, sponsored by The Boeing Company and held at the Children's National Research & Innovation Campus, featured the School-Friendly Health Systems (SFHS) national movement founded at Children's National, the statewide School-based Wellness Initiative at the Medical University of South Carolina's Boeing Center for Children's Wellness (MUSC BCCW) and other innovative collaborations. This event was informed by Children's National community and school health leaders visiting the MUSC BCCW in Charleston, SC earlier this year.

Symposium highlights

Danielle Dooley, MD, MPhil, FAAP, pediatrician and medical director for Community and Population Health at Children's National, who led the organization of the event with a school partnerships team, provided opening remarks on the importance of health and education systems partnering with families to improve health and wellness in the learning environment.

"In serving students, staff and families, partnerships are critical to fill the gap, and there is no school, agency, hospital, community health center or other organization that can do it alone, so these partnerships are critical," Dr. Dooley said. This lesson has been critical to the success of the Collaborative for Attendance Resources in Education and Health (CARE-H) that was included in a spotlight presentation. This nearly 10-year partnership combines the efforts of the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS), Children's National, and parents and caregivers to support school attendance and address health and social needs that impact it.

Cara Biddle, MD, MPH, senior vice president of Community Pediatric Health; chief of General Pediatrics and Community Health and Torine Creppy, vice president of Community Engagement & Impact at Children's National; president of Safe Kids Worldwide, emphasized the importance of working beyond the hospital walls in the community where kids live, go to school and play.

Jessica Williford, senior director of State Advocacy and Global Engagement at Boeing South Carolina, gave a warm welcome to the event celebrating and advancing school wellness and School-Friendly Health Systems through the largest gathering of children's hospitals. "As we sat in the auditorium of Children's Research and Innovation Campus (a direct investment of the Boeing Company), we were reminded of the great opportunity to learn, collaborate and create innovative programs for children and families."

The keynote speaker, Maryland State Superintendent of Schools Carey M. Wright, Ed.D., shared insights on the reasons children are chronically absent from school, including mental health challenges and fears due to safety and immigration concerns. As pediatricians have one of the most trusted relationships with families, she cited the critical role they can play in supporting their patients through asking about school and attendance.

"When kids aren't in school, they aren't learning. Child health and well-being require a community effort, and it's vital that school programs are designed with educators at the table," said Dr. Wright.

Spotlight presentations and panels of experts shared examples of transformational health and education collaborations that involved data-sharing, wellness initiatives, school-based health services and policy and systems change efforts across the country to improve children's health and educational outcomes. Sarah Piwinski, DHA(c), MPA, director of the Institute for Community Health at MUSC, stated that "health and education are inseparable, and if we think about them separately, we are doing a disservice to our programs and the families we can reach." Throughout the day, many speakers expressed that fragmented systems create gaps in care, emphasizing the importance of hearing educator's perspectives and inviting leaders into shared space to create goals and accountability for this work.

The previous day, 40 members from 23 children's hospitals attending a SFHS National Collaborative meeting visited two innovative public charter schools, DC Bilingual School and Briya Public Charter School both dual immersion Spanish and English and two-generation public charter schools in the DC. This set the tone for a powerful closing to the symposium with remarks from Nicole Travers, MS, senior director of Strategic Partnerships at the DC Charter School Alliance who explained that academic success for students requires more than strong instruction. "It requires a network of community partnerships and wraparound services that ensure students are ready to learn each day," she said.

This event was sponsored by The Boeing Company and Children's National.