schools.forhealth.orgSchools For Health – How School Buildings Influence Student Health, Thinking and Performance

Skip to Content Schools For Health Schools For Health -- For Health Menu ForHealth Home 9 Foundations COGFX Study COBE AppLab Homes Schools Firehouses Aviation ESG / SDGs Biophilic Design Materials Business Case COVID-19 Our goal is to improve the lives of all people, in all buildings, everywhere, every day. Menu Home COVID-19 Reopening Strategies COVID-19 FAQs Relevant Research Schools How School Buildings Influence Student Health, Thinking and Performance Schools For Health: COVID-19 Keeping schools closed comes with massive, long-term individual and societal costs. Many children cannot effectively learn, grow, engage, socialize, be active, eat healthy food, or get support until schools reopen. Parents and caregivers cannot go back to work until children go back to school. Knowing that schools will reopen at some point, we set out to answer this question: What strategies should schools consider to reduce risk of COVID-19 transmission? COVID-19 + Schools: What to Know Ventilation Guide 5 Step Guide to Checking Ventilation Rates in Classrooms Download the Guide COVID-19 Report Risk Reduction Strategies for Reopening Schools Read the Report COVID-19 Tools Calculators for the classroom See all Tools COVID-19 + Schools: Research and News Washington Post: Schools finally have the road map they need to fully reopen View Article Washington Post: Don’t let covid-19 keep kids from playing sports View Article Updates to the Risk Reduction Strategies For Reopening Schools Report View Article Washington Post: Why three feet of social distancing should be enough in schools View Article Washington Post: U.S. schooling during covid-19 doesn’t deserve a passing grade. Here’s the way forward. View Article Harvard Gazette: Is go-slow schools’ reopening failing kids? View Article From Boston-Area Infectious Disease Specialists and Pediatricians: The messy science behind the coronavirus and opening schools View Article From Boston-Area Infectious Disease Specialists and Pediatricians: COVID-19 School and Community Resource Library View Article Key to Preventing Covid-19 Indoors: Ventilation View Article Want to buy schools time? Open the windows. View Article Washington Post: We can — and must — reopen schools. Here’s how. View Article Boston Globe: Listen to the science and reopen schools View Article Path to Zero & Schools: Achieving Pandemic Resilient Teaching and Learning Spaces View Article Washington Post: Yes, kids should be going back to school in the fall View Article Schools For Health: Risk Reduction Strategies for Reopening Schools View Article COVID-19 + Schools: Downloads and Tools COVID-19 Schools Reopening Report - English COVID-19 Informe de reapertura de escuelas - Español Portable Air Cleaner Purification Report Portable Air Cleaner Purification Calculator 5 Step Guide to Checking Ventilation Rates in Classrooms - English Guía en 5 Pasos Para Medir la Tasa de Renovación de Aire en Aulas - Español Foundations for Student Success Schools For Health is a platform to discuss, research and disseminate information on how school buildings impact the health and productivity of students and teachers every day. This team works to answer critical questions related to the environmental and contextual factors that influence chronic absenteeism, academic performance and short- and long-term health indicators. In our new report, the Schools For Health team illuminates how the school building influences the student’s health, thinking and performance. The report incorporates findings from over 200 research studies and considers over 70 health outcomes related to school buildings. The evidence is unambiguous. The school building impacts student health, thinking and performance. Investing in school buildings is an investment in our future. It is time for action. Schools are important By the time a student graduates high school, they will have spent more than 15,000 hours in a school , which is the second longest indoor exposure time after their home. For more than 50 million K-12 students enrolled in fall of 2015, this is a time of critical physiological, social and emotional growth and development, which is susceptible to many indoor conditions including indoor air pollution, mold, elevated noise levels, radon, asbestos, inadequate lighting and more. Student Health Student Health captures the overall physical and biological health of a school building occupant. For example, allergies, common colds and other noncommunicable and communicable diseases can prevent students from feeling well throughout the academic year and may affect attendance. Student Thinking Student thinking encompasses short-term (i.e., hourly, daily, or weekly) impacts on cognitive function and mental well-beign and includes attention, comprehension, annoyance, and irritability. Student Performance Student performance references the successful long-term academic performance of students. 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