Education is a critical determinant of health that can have long-term effects on children’s health and economic outcomes. As Children’s National has proudly served the early childhood and K-12 school systems for more than two decades, we saw the need to develop a School-Friendly Health Systems (SFHS) framework to help our healthcare delivery systems align efforts with the education sector to address the holistic needs of children. In 2019, Children’s National, in partnership with RESOLVE (a Washington, D.C.,-based nonprofit based specializing in collaborative process design), launched an initiative to articulate principles of a SFHS, a school partnerships framework, based on lessons learned from nationally recognized baby-friendly hospitals and age-friendly health systems initiatives. Collaborative efforts between healthcare and educational systems not only support students’ immediate well-being but also strengthen communities by fostering healthier, more resilient generations prepared for lifelong success.
Becoming school-friendly means that hospitals and health systems have made a commitment to actively help children achieve optimal health and reach their full academic potential.
With input from local and national stakeholders, including pediatricians, educators, school
administrators, school nurses, parents and community health experts, Children’s National released the five Core Principles and Practices of a SFHS in 2021, and then in 2023 along with case examples on how the principles and accompanying practices are being applied. In fall of 2022, Children’s National launched a SFHS Learning Collaborative with an initial cohort of seven children’s hospitals and a community health center to create tools and share learnings to help each other better support the education of children in the community it serves at every touchpoint-including effective school partnerships, clinical interactions and systems and policy design. The SFHS Learning Collaborative has meet biannually in addition to joining together for a six-part monthly virtual meeting series to discuss innovative health and education supporting initiatives that aligned with one or more of the SFHS principles.
Welcoming a New Cohort of School-Friendly Health Systems
Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success. – Henry Ford
In fall 2024, Children’s National and RESOLVE hosted meetings to welcome a new cohort of children’s hospitals who are dedicated to strengthening existing school-related efforts and learn from peers across the country that provide healthcare and community health programs in rural and urban settings.
First SFHS Cohort (launched September 2022)
Children’s Hospital of Orange County (Orange, CA)
Children’s Mercy Kansas City (Kansas City, MO)
Children’s National (Washington, DC)
Children’s Nebraska (Omaha, NE)
Children’s Wisconsin (Milwaukee, WI)
Cincinnati Children’s (Cincinnati, OH)
Luke’s Children’s Hospital (Boise, ID)
Mary’s Center (Washington, DC)
Second SFHS Cohort (launched September 2024)
Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (Atlanta, GA)
Children’s Minnesota (Minneapolis, MN)
Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt (Nashville, TN)
Texas Children’s Hospital (Houston, TX)
UMPC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, PA)
Vermont Child Health Improvement Program (Burlington, VT)
As a consortium of pediatric hospital teams and health organizations, both cohorts are actively working together to apply the five SFHS principles to their school health programs and initiatives.
Building a Roadmap to Becoming a School-Friendly Health System
We might have different language for the same topic areas on our roadmap, but we are all on a path. The roadmap activity affirms the value of doing this learning together to improve the quality of how we’re doing this work and continue to advance it in a meaningful way. – SFHS Learning Collaboratives Member
On October 23, 2024, the SFHS Learning Collaborative met to create a SFHS roadmap joined by Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital who hosted the meeting prior to the Children’s Hospital Association Community Health Fall 2024 Meeting that was held in Memphis, Tennessee. The goal of developing tools together is to help each other, and the broader field better serve children and school partners. While each of the hospitals developed their own roadmaps for their hospital and community, the SFHS Learning Collaborative came together to define a workplan with key milestones that any hospital or health system could pursue to support their journey in becoming a SFHS, including the following:
- Create a diverse SFHS team
- Develop a shared vision and strategy connected to the health system strategy
- Conduct an internal and external needs assessment and resources inventory
- Define metrics for success
- Develop and implement action plan through advisory councils
- Conduct continual improvement of policy and programmatic efforts in partnership with school partners and families
- Tell the story and sustain financial and operational support
A SFHS Roadmap tool will be released in winter 2024 and shared on our School-Friendly Health Systems website. The SFHS Learning Collaborative plans to reconvene in spring 2025 and will be hosting a second six-part virtual meeting series this winter to advance our learnings around health and education and develop additional tools for dissemination.
Catalyzing a National Network of SFHS Champions
Being a School-Friendly Health Systems champion is inspiring your teams, leveraging what you’re already doing well, and looking at across your whole system to identify those unique players to bring to their expertise and be more coordinated for school health. – SFHS Learning Collaboratives Member
As the SFHS Learning Collaborative is advancing school partnerships that can have a greater impact on children health and academic success, we are expanding our champions and partners network to help support us in this journey by sharing our learnings at national conferences and meetings. In fall 2024, Children’s National presented at the American Academy of Pediatrics National Conference session on Principles and Practices of a School-Friendly Health System on September 28 in Orlando, FL. Additionally, Children’s National and Mercy’s Children’s Kansas City presented a session on Advancing Health Equity through a School-Friendly Health System Framework and Children’s National presented a workshop on A Case Example of How to Build Coalitions to Advance Health Equity through a School Policy Change at the American School Health Association 2024 Annual Conference on October 17 and 18 in Pittsburgh, PA. As we look forward to 2025, we will continue to seek out more opportunities to share our stories and successes.
For more information on the SFHS Learning Collaborative, contact School Partnerships@childrensnational.org.
About the author
Julia DeAngelo, MPH
Program Manager for School Strategies within the Child Health Advocacy Institute at Children's National Hospital
Desiree de la Torre, MPH, MBA
Executive Director of Community Affairs & Population Health Improvement and Government Affairs within the Child Health Advocacy Institute at Children's National Hospital
Courtney Dennis, BS
Community Education Specialist within the Child Health Advocacy Institute at Children's National Hospital
