Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) Implementation Process

The WSCC model is centered on the child, the student, and emphasizes a school-wide approach, acknowledging that learning, health, and the school are part of the broader community. The WSCC model can be used to enhance existing structures by fostering coordination and collaboration across multiple sectors and disciplines within the school to address non-academic barriers to learning. The guides below provide step-by-step guidance to developing or supporting existing infrastructure to create a school environment and culture that embraces health throughout its policies, processes and practices.

Most systemic processes support a step by step guide to creating a healthy school for example:

Create a School Health Team
Assess your school…how healthy are you already?
Make an action plan…and take action!
Evaluate your results and share your successes

A number of organizations have created resources to support a process for the creation of healthy schools.

National Association of Chronic Disease Directors, The Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child Model guide to implementation
- Webinar The Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child Model: A Guide to implementation
RMC Health: Roadmap to Health Schools
Center for Rural School Health & Education, AIM-XL Planning Process.
National Association of Chronic Disease Directors, Guide to Incorporating Health and Wellness into School Improvement Plans
The Alliance for a Healthier Generation has a Healthy School Framework that allows schools to track progress and be recognized for outstanding accomplishments in school health

Assessment Tools

SMART Source, This streamlined tool available in Colorado allows all K-12 public schools to assess their health efforts to help ensure students are healthy and ready to learn. Colorado Healthy Schools Smart Source replaces various state and national data collection efforts to provide schools with meaningful data and reduce the burden of multiple school health tools. It serves as the Colorado inventory for understanding school health policy and practice.
The School Health Index (SHI): Self-Assessment & Planning Guide 2017 is an online self-assessment and planning tool (also available in a downloadable, printable version)
The Alliance for a Healthier Generation has a Healthy School Framework that allows schools to track progress and be recognized for outstanding accomplishments in school health that schools can use to improve their health and safety policies and programs. It’s easy to use and completely confidential.

Other Resources:

The Centers for Disease Control, Healthy Youth website has a variety of school health resources
The Alliance for a Healthier Generation has a Healthy School Framework that allows schools to track progress and be recognized for outstanding accomplishments in school health
Benefits associated with the eight components of coordinated school health

Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) Implementation Process