![\"A](\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/WSCC-Model-graphic-300x285.png\")
The WSCC model<\/a> is the CDC\u2019s framework for addressing health in schools. It focuses on meeting the needs of the whole child by ensuring students are healthy, safe, supported, engaged, and challenged. The model emphasizes the integration and coordination of evidence-based policies and practices across a range of domains related to health and learning, as well as the important role of the community in supporting schools.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are two arms to the partnership,\u201d says Chafouleas, a Board of Trustees distinguished professor in Educational Psychology. \u201cFirst, we have our statewide work, which involves the delivery of professional development and technical assistance to help districts strengthen their implementation of evidence-based policies and practices aligned with the WSCC model. The other arm of the project is our work with one priority school district to provide in-depth training and ongoing support over five school years, the life of the project. East Hartford Public Schools is that priority district, and we are so grateful to be collaborating with their district and school leaders.\u201d<\/p>\n In Year 1 of the project, East Hartford\u2019s school WSCC teams – formerly Health & Wellness teams – participated in a series of professional learning sessions led by UConn. The series began with a focus on building knowledge of the WSCC model and whole child development. Next, the teams completed structured assessment activities, including analysis of current practices and school-level data, to identify their WSCC domains of focus, such as Health Services or Physical Education & Activity. Finally, teams wrote goals and action plans to strengthen their practices within those domains over this school year, which is Year 2 of the project.<\/p>\n East Hartford Middle School (EHMS) identified Social and Emotional Climate as its domain of focus and developed a plan to improve that climate through physical activity.<\/p>\n \u201cSince the pandemic we have seen a rise in anxiety, depression, and emotional dysregulation,\u201d said EHMS principal Joe Pearce. \u201cCouple this with the normal middle school stressors and challenges teens and preteens face, and we felt this would be beneficial for our school.\u201d<\/p>\n After developing the action plan, the school\u2019s WSCC team, led by teacher Meredith Krauss, created a program called Empower Health. This takes place daily during the school\u2019s 15-minute advisory period. On Mondays, students participate in classroom activities based on the CASEL framework<\/a> for social and emotional learning. On Tuesdays through Fridays, students enjoy physical activity outside, which reinforces the social and emotional learning in the classroom.<\/p>\n With the CT WSCC Partnership\u2019s support, EHMS purchased supplies for team-based games such as soccer, kickball, and football, as well as independent activities such as jumping rope and hula hooping. Student and teacher surveys demonstrate the positive results this program is already creating among the student body.<\/p>\n One student said, \u201cThis is something that I can use to let off some energy after class.\u201d<\/p>\n Several others indicated that engaging in physical activity through the project has helped them socially.<\/p>\n \u201cI met people from my team that I don’t have classes with, and I made new friends,\u201d said one sixth grader.<\/p>\n A seventh grader believes the program helps students \u201cfeel more welcomed in their team and the school,\u201d and an eighth grader said, \u201csome of my friends are usually quiet but I get them to engage.\u201d<\/p>\n Pearce said this program is the \u201cnumber one success from this school year.\u201d The social emotional lessons coupled with the physical activity time outside has led to students feeling better.<\/p>\n \u201cMiddle school students need to move, put their phones down, get fresh air and be around their peers in a safe environment,\u201d he said. \u201cThis program has provided so much to our school.”<\/p>\n East Hartford\u2019s International Baccalaureate middle school, Sunset Ridge School, identified Employee Wellness as a key area for improvement and a domain to focus on during the 2024-2025 school year. The Sunset Ridge WSCC team, led by teacher Nicole Wysocki, recognized that the well-being of its staff directly impacts the overall school environment and student success.<\/p>\n \u201cMany educators experience stress related to day-to-day expenses and long-term financial security,\u201d Wysocki said. \u201cBy providing financial literacy and support opportunities, we aimed to reduce this burden, helping teachers feel more secure in their current and future financial standing. Ultimately, our goal was to foster a healthier, more supported staff, creating a positive and stable foundation for our students.<\/p>\n The WSCC team hosted the district\u2019s financial advisor, who presented financial planning strategies, investment options, and retirement benefits tailored to educators. The team also hosted a session focused on college tuition reimbursement and discounts available to teachers.<\/p>\n One staff member said, \u201cI enjoyed having the variety of opportunities at our meetings that we might not think to seek out ourselves in our busy schedules.\u201d<\/p>\n As a direct result of these sessions, several staff members made financial changes and decisions, such as starting retirement accounts and filling out paperwork for teacher loan forgiveness.<\/p>\n Throughout the school year, all of East Hartford\u2019s school WSCC teams have worked to implement and measure the impact of their action plans. In future years, teams will repeat these assessment and action-planning processes to continue to strengthen their whole child practices.<\/p>\n The East Hartford District WSCC Team is also engaged in work that parallels that of the school teams. Their focus is on integrating and coordinating whole child practices across the district and in collaboration with the Town of East Hartford and community partners, such as InterCommunity, the health care provider for East Hartford\u2019s school-based health centers.<\/p>\n \u201cTaken together, I think the efforts of East Hartford Middle School and Sunset Ridge School are incredible examples of the WSCC model in action,\u201d says Tracy Stefano, K-12 supervisor of health and physical education in East Hartford, who leads the district\u2019s collaboration with UConn on this project. \u201cThe UConn team really believes that it\u2019s not meant to be a prescriptive approach. The model is meant to provide an organizing framework that is flexible based on context, allowing educators to identify the priorities in their settings, for their community. That\u2019s exactly what you see with the middle schools in East Hartford – two different, yet highly meaningful whole child initiatives.\u201d<\/p>\n Districts interested in learning more about the CT WSCC Partnership can visit ctwholechild.collaboration.uconn.edu<\/a>. Registration is now open for the 2025 WSCC Academy<\/a>, a day of free professional learning for district wellness teams in Connecticut on May 21.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Students and staff benefit from strategic actions aligned with the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child Model<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":141,"featured_media":228134,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1715,2428,2231,2269,1855],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2217],"class_list":["post-228129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-impact","category-educational-psychology","category-health-well-being","category-inchip","category-neag"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-26 09:51:54","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/141"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=228129"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228129\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":228153,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228129\/revisions\/228153"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/228134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=228129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=228129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=228129"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=228129"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=228129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"A](\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/CT-WSCC-Picture-2-300x200.jpg\")
![\"A](\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/CT-WSCC-Picture-3-300x238.jpg\")