The American Public Health Association (APHA) established the Center for School, Health, and Education in 2010 to address school completion deficits as a public health issue. The center aims to promote school-based health centers to improve student well-being, create a positive school climate, and reduce obstacles to learning. A key objective is to frame low graduation rates as a public health problem and demonstrate how access to on-site health services can boost academic achievement. In 2013, the APHA launched a pilot program pairing school-based health centers with two Detroit schools that have historically low graduation rates.

1. APHA Approaches School
Completion Deficits as a
Public Health Issue

2. APHA Approaches School Completion
Deficits as a Public Health Issue
Based in New York City, Dr. Philip Levy currently serves as president of PHL HP
Consulting Group, a firm that advises organizations on implementing strategies to
elevate the performance of their executives. In addition to several awards that
attest to his expertise in organizational administration, Dr. Philip Levy has earned
distinctions for his contributions to the enhanced well-being of others, such as
the Outstanding Contribution of the Year Award at the 2003 American Public
Health Association (APHA) Disability Forum. Along with the work of its Disability
Section, APHA comprises several other sections that administer a multitude of
programs to advance the goals of the public health profession in various domains.

3. APHA Approaches School Completion
Deficits as a Public Health Issue
One of APHA’s more recently initiated programs is the Center for School, Health,
and Education, which was incorporated into APHA in 2010 as the new designation
for the W.K. Kellogg Foundation-funded School-Based Health Care Policy Program.
The center strives to promote and establish school-based health centers and to
spread awareness about the challenges to student success posed by such issues as
obesity, school violence, and a negative school climate. Beyond serving as a
conventional school nurse’s office, health centers are proposed as a means of
nourishing a school climate that is positive, as a place where students feel safe,
and where obstructions to learning are diminished.

4. APHA Approaches School Completion
Deficits as a Public Health Issue
A key objective of the center is to frame school completion as a public health
issue and to highlight accessibility to school-based health centers as a factor that
can improve graduation rates. In order to help schools create an atmosphere
conducive to academic success, health centers are equipped to deal with both
mental and physical health challenges, such as depression and teen pregnancy
care, as well as to address symptoms of a negative school environment like
bullying and unhealthy cafeteria food.

5. APHA Approaches School Completion
Deficits as a Public Health Issue
In June 2013, the center introduced a school-based health center pilot program
at Detroit’s Central Collegiate Academy and Durfee Elementary-Middle School.
Both schools have chronically low graduation rates, and the pilot will be used to
assess the feasibility of deploying health centers nationally to reduce the dropout
rate.