Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child

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Expanding the Coordinated School Health Approach

Since 1987, CDC’s coordinated school health (CSH) approach has been the blueprint for integrating health-promoting practices in the school setting. CSH programs have helped to establish policies and practices in states, districts, and schools across the nation, and will see continued success within the expanded Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) model.

The WSCC model includes 10 components, expanding upon the CSH components of Healthy and Safe School Environment and Family/Community Involvement into 4 distinct components.

The Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child Model

The Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) model is an expansion and update of the Coordinated School Health (CSH) approach. The WSCC incorporates the components of CSH and the tenets of the ASCD’s* whole child approach to strengthen a unified and collaborative approach to learning and health. The WSCC model focuses its attention on the child, emphasizes a school-wide approach, and acknowledges learning, health, and the school as being a part and reflection of the local community.

The Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child Model: A New Approach

By focusing on youth, addressing critical education and health outcomes, organizing collaborative actions and initiatives that support students, and strongly engaging community resources, the WSCC approach offers important opportunities that may improve healthy development and educational attainment for students. Learn more about this approach in a special issue of the Journal of School Health.

More information about the WSCC model is contained in this fact sheet. Information about using the School Health Index to assess the extent to which the WSCC model is fully implemented in your school or school district can be found on the Healthy Schools website. School Health Index training is available as part of CDC’s E-Learning Series: Training Tools for Healthy Schools.