Newark’s Brookside Elementary joins a recently growing number of elementary schools in the state to open school-based wellness centers.
Erin Booker is the Chief Bio-Psycho-Social Officer for ChristianaCare. She says wellness centers have been present in Delaware high schools for decades.
“But early intervention is incredibly important. So being able to support them in elementary schools, and then follow them through middle school and high school- that continuity and early access is unbelievably important,” explained Booker.
Christiana Care nurse practitioner Andrea Boyle works in elementary school wellness centers.
She says their goal is to provide students with quality healthcare services and community resources otherwise unavailable to them due to things like cost or lack of transportation.
“And those needs may be medical, I may see them for a cold or the flu. They may be in mental health where they see our behavioral health therapist,” said Boyle. “And they may be suffering from something that may be caused by a social determinant of health. Maybe that’s a lack of transportation, maybe they have food or housing insecurity that’s affecting their ability to be well. We care for students in all of those capacities here.”
The first elementary wellness center opened at Eisenberg Elementary school in 2018, and the positive impact was quickly noticed.
More have opened since then, but the numbers have yet to satisfy the growing demand for elementary wellness centers fueled by the increased need for accessible health services post-pandemic.
In an effort to meet that demand, New Castle County committed approximately $2 million to four new school wellness centers, one in a middle school, and three in elementary schools, including Brookside.
The work to bring wellness centers to younger students doesn’t end with funding.
Christina School District Superintendent Dan Shelton says meeting the unique needs of elementary-aged students is a collaborative effort between districts, the state, and the county.
“We need to make sure that we have a model that’s going to be sustainable and provide our kids with what they need,” explained Shelton. “Our elementary population is not requiring the same types of services that the high school population is. So we needed to make sure that we were providing something that was tailored to the elementary level, and providing the services they needed.”
Wellness center services are offered without charge to the students or families, whether they have insurance or not.
Health officials say these wellness centers lead to increased student engagement and decreased stress.
There are now over four dozen school-based wellness centers statewide, a quarter of which serve elementary-aged students.
