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School Health Services Program

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★ To make an appointment, call your doctor’s office or find a health provider.

★ DC Pediatric Immunization Locations

School Health Forms

LETTER: Pediatric Preventative Care and School Health NEW!


The overarching goal of the District of Columbia School Health Services Program (SHSP) is to improve the health of students, enabling them to thrive in the classroom and beyond by creating greater alignment, integration, and collaboration between education and health. The SHSP is aligned with the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) model which calls for greater collaboration across multiple sectors and stakeholders. The WSSC model includes 10 components that puts the student at the center while stressing the need for coordination among policy, process and practice. Components of the model are addressed by members of the school team, families, community-based organizations, and District agencies to meet student needs and improve the life trajectory for each child.

DC Health provides school health services to over 70,000 students in more than 175 DC public and public charter schools. This number continues to expand yearly as new school health suites are approved. School health suites are staffed with a combination of Registered Nurses (RN), Licensed Practical Nurses (LPN), and Allied Health Professionals. All health suite staff collaborate with school personnel to provide basic health services and ensure that student health needs are met during the school day.

Responsibilities of School Health Suite Staff:

Provision of clinical services to children with special health care needs

  • Bladder catheterization
  • Glucose monitoring and surveillance
  • Prescribed medication administration, e.g. albuterol, insulin, diastat
  • Oxygen therapy
  • Tracheostomy care
  • Tube feedings

Assessment and short-term management of acute illness and injury

Follow-up and chronic disease self-management support

Review and assessment of submitted Universal Health Certificates (UHC) to determine if a well-child pediatric health visit has occurred, to ensure appropriate preventive health services and referrals have been made (including but not limited to immunizations and screenings for vision, hearing and development/behavior), to assess chronic care needs, and to identify health needs during the school day.

Responsibilities of School Personnel:

  • Provide, communicate, and implement school safety and emergency plans
  • Ensure required health forms for every child in the school building are returned every year
  • Maintain trained staff to administer appropriate medications in the school building and during field-trips
  • Provide basic first aid including adhesive bandages for minor abrasions or lacerations
  • Activate Emergency Medical System as appropriate

For more information on the School Health Services Program or to request school health services for a school, please contact [email protected].


SHSP Online Information Reporting and Contact System

The SHSP is pleased to announce the new online reporting and contact system. The development and implementation of this online portal is part of our commitment to providing high quality school health services, promoting a culture of safety, and supporting collaboration among students, staff, education partners and DC Health.

To access the online portal please click here: dchealth.force.com/studenthealthservices/s/

If you are seeking information about the SHSP, or you have concerns related to school health suites, please complete and submit a form within the online portal. Topics to submit include, but are not limited to:

  • Requests for school nursing services
  • Site visit requests
  • COVID19 student testing in schools
  • School health suite staffing
  • SHSP related data
  • Health suite facilities
  • Student health records, or other school health related topics

The information from your submission in the portal will be reported directly to the DC Health SHSP team and will only be shared on an as-needed basis with any involved parties. After you complete and submit your form, you can expect to receive confirmation of its receipt and information about next steps within 2 business days.

More information on completing and submitting a form in the online portal can be found in the User Guide.


Parent Feedback Survey

School Health Services Program is committed to providing high quality school health services to your child during the school day. Please take a few moments to fill out this survey. The information you provide will be used to improve the program and ensure continuous high quality services. Your feedback and comments are greatly appreciated and will be kept confidential.

Please click the link below to take the survey. This survey should only take about 8 minutes to complete. The survey will remain open for responses and you are welcome to submit at any time.

 


Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Service Contact: 
Family Health Bureau
Contact Phone: 
(202) 442-5925
Contact Fax: 
(202) 442-4947
Contact TTY: 
711
Contact Suite #: 
3rd Floor
Office Hours: 
Monday to Friday 9 am to 5 pm