School-Based Health

During the past two years, the Foundation saw significant progress in the School-Based Health Focus Area, particularly through the school nurse support strategy. This strategy centers on addressing four key gaps identified in the NEPA School Nurse Needs Assessment commissioned by the Foundation in 2019: advocacy, awareness and connections, professional development, and staffing and funding models.

ADVOCACY: School nurses face significant challenges due to outdated state laws, mandates, and policies that govern their work. Currently, we are working in partnership with the Pennsylvania Association of School Nurses and Practitioners (PASNAP) to develop an advocacy plan for Pennsylvania school nurses. This plan is expected to be completed in late 2025, after which we hope to continue the partnership and support its implementation.

AWARENESS/CONNECTIONS: Many people have an outdated view of the modern school nurse’s role, and school nurses often feel isolated from other key stakeholders. The Foundation continues to implement a related awareness campaign, as well as several more targeted efforts. In 2024, we embarked on a three-year project with the Center for School Health Innovation and Quality (C4SHIQ) to develop and deliver a professional development curriculum for regional educators and school administrators on the roles that school health and school nurses play in the broader education ecosystem. We believe this work has the potential to significantly improve communication and collaboration between school nurses and school leadership, thereby strengthening health and education outcomes for children.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: When the Foundation began its school health work in 2019, school nurses indicated they often had difficulty accessing professional development opportunities specific to their work. Since that time, we have supported and cultivated targeted trainings, seminars, and a new school nurse mentorship program. The Foundation has seen a significant increase in positive responses to an annual survey of local school nurses, which asked whether they had access to enough professional development opportunities. Only 9 percent of respondents felt the offerings were sufficient in 2022, but that number increased to 47 percent in 2023 and to 71 percent in 2024.

WORKFORCE AND FUNDING MODELS: In 2022, the Foundation worked with C4SHIQ on a study examining school nurse workforce staffing and funding models in use across Northeastern Pennsylvania, as well as promising models from other parts of the United States. Since completing this work, we have been engaging with partners to cultivate related opportunities to pilot some of the promising models locally. In 2025, this led to the launch of a three-year pilot program with the Northeastern Educational Intermediate Unit (NEIU) to hire a “float” school nurse who will be shared among NEIU’s member school districts during particularly busy times. This pilot will be closely evaluated for cost effectiveness and its potential to improve health equity for children.

Finally, in addition to making these proactive efforts to improve the ability of school nurses to meet children’s health needs, we also pursued opportunities to support complementary school health efforts. For example, we supported the expansion of Aevidum Clubs in 20 school districts. These clubs empower students to raise awareness of mental health issues and help reduce stigma around them.