Wellness and Whole-Child Supports

​Research shows a link between the health outcomes of young people and their academic success. To have the most positive impact on the health outcomes of young people, government agencies, community organizations, schools and other community members must work together through a collaborative and comprehensive approach.​

​Family Involvement: Family engagement with schools is a shared responsibility of both school staff and families. School staff are committed to making families feel welcomed, engaging families in a variety of meaningful ways, and sustaining family engagement. Families are committed to actively supporting their child's learning and development. This relationship between school staff and families cuts across and reinforces student health and learning in multiple settings—at home, in school, in out-of-school programs, and in the community. Family engagement should be continuous across a child's life and requires an ongoing commitment as children mature into young adults. There are a variety of opportunities to grow your knowledge of family engagement and leadership development included in the Family and Parent Toolbox. The Kentucky Collaborative for Families and Schools and the Commonwealth Institute for Parent Leadership (CIPL) are two examples which foster the progress of Kentucky’s public schools.

Full-Service Community Schools: The Kentucky Community School Initiative (KCSI) seeks to create better outcomes for Kentucky students and to reduce barriers to learning. Through shared collaborative leadership, each unique community is integral to student success. Full-service community schools are engaged in moving from more programs to increased local coordination, silos to collaborative leadership, random acts of programming to intentionality for high-impact, schools working alone to groundswell action and doing “for” to listening and doing “with” families and communities.

Whole School, Whole Child, Whole Community (WSCC): A student-centered model emphasizing the role of the community in supporting the school, with emphasis on connections between health and academic achievement. Research shows a link between the health outcomes of young people and their academic success. To have the most positive impact on the health outcomes of young people, government agencies, community organizations, schools, and other community members must work together through a collaborative and comprehensive approach. This site explores overall health connections from nutrition, physical activity to social emotional health.

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