Healthy Communities Conversation on HealthY Schools: Summary

This is a summary of the conversations facilitated by Centre for Healthy Communities on November 3, 2021. The Healthy Communities Conversation focused on ‘How schools serve as powerful settings to build communities.’

Key Highlights: 

  • Schools are community hubs that play many roles and can serve many purposes beyond education. They provide a space for: community sports, programs, gardening, vaccinations, voting, cultural fairs, health fairs, civic engagement,
  • How the physical infrastructure of a school is used as a shared community asset varies from school to school and across districts.
  • Schools can serve as a central space to promote health and wellbeing of not only children, but families and the wider community.
  • Schools are change makers in creating safe, healthy environments for children to learn and grow.
  • Teachers, staff, and school administrators are foundational and critical in addressing the health and wellbeing of children and parents in schools, homes, and communities as they establish a sense of stability during unprecedented times (i.e., the COVID-19 pandemic). They have also been identified as  the silent heroes throughout the pandemic.
  • Youth participation and champions in policy and decision-making, innovation, and leadership is important to building a system that fosters healthy environments both within and outside of schools.
  • Identified facilitators (from conversations) to building healthy school communities include: relationships/partnerships with diverse partners, organizations, and communities; collaborative projects; community engagement; and higher-level engagement from policy-makers.
  • Identified barriers (from conversations) to building healthy school communities include: the time it takes for relationship building; ongoing support for teachers and staff to be able to promote social connection (inside and outside the school); and the importance of including different levels of education (i.e., primary and secondary education) as part of community building.