About Us

Context

LAUSD is the second largest school district in the nation covering an urban area of 708 square miles. We have a diverse student body in 1030 schools and centers with 746,610 students and a staff of 80,325 including more than 600 School Nurses. 87% of our children are eligible for the Federal School Lunch Program. Many families lack resources for quality health care. We estimate that more than 63,000 of our students have asthma.

Program

The School Nurses of Los Angeles Unified School District have developed an asthma management program integrating asthma education and prevention with a mobile treatment program using private and public partnerships and collaborative programs with community agencies.

Target Population(s)
• School children with asthma--preschool, K-12
• Parents of children with asthma
• School staff, especially school nurses, attendance counselors, health education teachers and PE teachers

Project Objectives/Focus
• Increased asthma awareness in the school community
• Self management skills for students with asthma
• School staff education
• Links to quality care i.e., Breathmobile Program and other quality providers
• Improved home and school indoor air quality
 

Major Interventions/Strategies
• NIH Asthma Awareness classroom curriculum for grades K-3—we estimate that more than 100,000 students in grades K-3 were taught asthma awareness lessons during the past school year
• Educational programs for school staff
• Education programs for PE teachers
• Open Airways Program for grades 3-6. We have trained 75 school nurses to teach this program.
• Power Breathing for middle and high school students. We have trained 25 middle and high school nurses.
• Starbright Foundation’s CD-ROM asthma game for grades 4-8
• Participation in Community Asthma Collations