Enrollment fair is Wednesday for RSCD School Based Health Center

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Picking up your sick child in the middle of your work day can be a problem for some parents.

The Rochester City School District has found a way to stop this, almost completely.

Five different schools have implemented School Based Health Centers over the years.

And the district says they really make a difference in students’ and parents’ lives.

These School Based Health Centers provide students with a free way to get treated for a health issue that a school nurse can’t help.

“The school nurse kind of triages them in a sense, and then if they’re enrolled in our health center, they send them over to be seen on our side. We can see them for both medical services and behavioral health services,” Annette Petrosino-Stanin, Program Manager for School Based Health Centers, said.

These health centers are located at Edison High School, Northeast College Preparatory High School, Freddie Thomas Learning Center, School #33 and School #9.

It can do a lot for a student in need of medical care.

“Our medical services, we offer a range of things where kids can come for primary care type of concerns, may also be urgent care concerns. We do immunizations, we provide medication that the school nurse cannot provide. So we really are an additional service that’s already based here,” Petrosino-Stanin said.

It also puts a big focus on mental and behavioral health services.

“In each of our health centers we do have a master’s level clinician who provides individual therapy, family therapy, crisis intervention services. They may treat anything from depression, ADHD, anxiety, mood disorders,” Petrosino-Stanin said.

The center also has a psychiatric nurse practitioner who can provide psychiatric medication if needed.

This has been important for working parents who can’t take off work to pick up their sick child.

“it really gives our students a chance to be seen without necessarily having parents take off work to take their children to the doctor’s. We just had an open house last week, and our new parents were ecstatic that we had such facilities on campus,” Dr. Kimberly Harris-Pappin, Montessori School #53 principal, said.

Because of the help of the health centers, RCSD is trying to have as many families sign up Wednesday at its enrollment fair.

“Being able to have them come down, reassure parents that the kids are fine, we’ve taken care of their needs and then we’re able to send them right back to class, has been wonderful,” Harris-Pappin said.

The School Based Health Center enrollment fair will be held Wednesday from 2 to 6 p.m. at the Ibero Community Resource Center, 216 Clifford ave.

If you are unable to attend but want to enroll your child, you can scan the QR code below or visit this link.