Cathy Jennings, Coordinator
Cynthia Wheeler, Administrative Assistant
Donna McBride, Assistant
State office: (615) 532-6300
State Website
Cathy Jennings, Coordinator
Cynthia Wheeler, Administrative Assistant
Donna McBride, Assistant
State office: (615) 532-6300
State Website
Coordinated School Health 1161 W. 40th Street Chattanooga, TN 37409 3rd Floor, Suite 305
Phone (423) 498-7225
The Coordinated School Health program believes in a link between physical well-being and the learning environment. “The mission of Coordinated School Health is to improve students’ health and their capacity to learn through the support of families, communities and schools.”
CSH is implemented in a way that fits the unique needs and resources of each school community. The eight components of CSH are:
Coordinated School Health 1161 W. 40th Street Chattanooga, TN 37409 3rd Floor, Suite 305
Phone (423) 498-7225
The Coordinated School Health program believes in a link between physical well-being and the learning environment. “The mission of Coordinated School Health is to improve students’ health and their capacity to learn through the support of families, communities and schools.”
CSH is implemented in a way that fits the unique needs and resources of each school community. The eight components of CSH are:
Cathy Jennings, Coordinator
Cynthia Wheeler, Administrative Assistant
Donna McBride, Assistant
State office: (615) 532-6300
State Website
The physical, social and emotional health of students can support or hinder their academic success and their prospects for a productive and healthy life. State and national data reveal that many Tennessee students engage in unhealthy behaviors that are detrimental to both their health and academic success. Additionally, data indicate that school environments may not be as supportive as they could be of students’ health. Yet, in spite of these and other challenges, Tennessee schools can have a powerful influence on improving students’ well-being and readiness to learn.
“The mission of Coordinated School Health is to improve students’ health and their capacity to learn through the support of families, communities and schools.”
The CDC’s Coordinated School Health (CSH) model is a systematic approach that ensures that a school community effectively links health with educational success. Although these components are listed separately, it is their composite that allows CSH to have significant impact. CSH is implemented in a way that fits the unique needs and resources of each school community. The eight components of CSH are:
Beginning in 2001, the Office of Coordinated School Health implemented the CDC Allensworth/Kolbe model in ten state-funded Coordinated School Health Improvement pilot sites: Henry County, Loudon County, Macon County, Monroe County, Putnam County, Tipton County, Trenton SSD & Gibson County, Stewart County, Warren County, and Washington County.
The remaining Tennessee school systems began CSH on July 1, 2007.
The Office of CSH provides consultation and technical assistance to all school districts.
Call 615-532-6300 for assistance. TDOE
This includes getting health information from the students such as blood pressure, 1 mile walk/run times, and the Youth Risk Behavior Survey.
This information is needed to find out what areas are dealing with specific problems which will enable us to address these issues with evidence based programs that will meet their needs.
Currently we do not have health data on children in Hamilton County. Once we have this information, there will be better opportunities to apply for grants which will create more opportunities to support schools and the community to enhance the health of our students.
Schools need to have an environment that supports health physically, socially, and mentally. This includes factors such as temperature, noise, lighting, safety, and aesthetic surroundings.
Examples of environmental changes include putting up health promoting posters throughout the school, revamping cafeterias to include colorful murals of the food pyramid, or building a walking track on the school property.
Policy changes are vital for long term success for health promotion in schools. An example of a policy change in CSH would be for teachers to incorporate health education within their normal subject.
One important new policy change is the 90 minutes of Physical Activity Law which states that every student in TN grades K-12 must get 90 minutes of physical activity per week during school hours.
Our community is fortunate to have a lot of good people, resources, and companies who want to help in our endeavor to change the health of our children.
Many of these programs want to get into the schools to promote different aspects of health to the children. Coordinated School Health has the responsibility to understand what each program does and find out if it is evidence based and successful. We can match the programs with appropriate schools that would benefit from them.
The Tennessee Department of Education works in collaboration with the Tennessee Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention to implement Coordinated School Health (CSH) in Tennessee. Based upon passage of The Coordinated School Health Improvement Act of 1999, Chapter 554 and the subsequent 2006 Public Chapter 1001, CSH was created and funded with state budget dollars to implement CSH to all school systems in Tennessee. Funds support the development of a local infrastructure to promote health and wellness for all students and staff and thereby decrease barriers that prevent students from achieving their full academic potential.
8 Components of Coordinated School Health Initiative
The following links will take you to helpful resources related to the Coordinated School Health mission.