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AASA is your advocate, with the resources you need to support all of your initiatives.
More than 53 million children spending a significant portion of their day in the classroom, poor indoor air quality can pose health risks in schools for both students and staff and lead to asthma attacks, decreased performance and diminished concentration.
AASA began its work on healthy school environments and indoor air quality in 1992 and continues to work with school districts across the nation to elevate the importance of a healthy school environment. Poor indoor air quality is a serious risk to children’s health and academic performance. To prepare schools for children, this program promotes holistic improvements to the school environment, while educating students and staff. Funded through a cooperative agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency, AASA provides outreach, technical assistance, national presentations, training opportunities, virtual seminars and other resources through this project.
NEW! IAQ in Practice highlights eight school districts and their successful strategies used to sustain healthy learning environments. The eight districts highlighted are Broward County Public Schools (FL), Carrollton Farmers Branch ISD (TX), Denver Public Schools (CO), Irving ISD (TX), Keller ISD (TX), Recovery School District of Louisiana, Richmond County School System (GA), and San Francisco Unified School District (CA). WWW.IAQINPRACTICE.ORG
Take a virtual classroom and cafeteria tours below and then quiz yourself.
NEW QUIZ! http://resources.aasa.org/IAQ/HSEQuiz.html
What's New?
IAQ Corner with Darlington CSD: Find out what our members at Darlington Community School District (WI) are up to with improving IAQ for students, staff, and sports enthusiasts. Click HERE for more.
IAQ Corner with North East ISD: Check out the wonderful asthma-related work going on at North East Independent School District (TX) in this IAQ Corner with Diane Rhodes. Congrats on the American College of CHEST Physician (ACCP) D. Robert McCaffree Ambassadors for OneBreath® Humanitarian Award to fund five "mini" Asthma Blow-Outs. Click HERE for more.
IAQ Corner--Happenings and Health: Please check out the latest IAQ virtual events and other IAQ happenings across the nation with the EPA's School Health and Indoor Environments Summit collaborative pacing events. Also included is a debrief of a compelling study on asthma disparities that will surely highlight the importance of incorporating asthma into your district's IAQ plans. Click HERE for more information.
MOLD: What to do if MOLD becomes a problem at your school. Get tips on administrative strategies for mold prevention, detection, and remediation. Join the discussion and share your experiences with mold remediation HERE, and click HERE for the presentation.
IAQ Corner with Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools: Find out what Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools are doing to manage asthma and indoor air quality with a special IAQ Corner blog featuring Coordinated School Health Specialist, Nancy Langenfeld. Click HERE for more information.
The AASA IAQ Corner with Carrollton Farmers Branch ISD: Victor Melton is the Environmental and Energy Manager at Carrollton Farmers Branch Independent School District and discusses ways in which energy usage, especially office copiers and printers, impacts indoor air quality. This blog sells the case that energy efficiency can improve indoor air quality. Click HERE for the blog.
Putting the Pieces Together: A School Leader's Guide to Healthy Indoor Environments-- Putting the Pieces Together is an interactive document that introduces the school community to six common challenges that may be encountered when implementing and sustaining a healthy indoor environmental plan/program: 1) Maintaining strong leadership, 2) Dealing with overcrowding, 3) Increasing awareness and prioritizing IEQ, 4) Implementing effective communication strategies, 5) Overcoming financial barriers, and 6) Creating networking opportunities. Click here for the PDF version, and email children@aasa.org to request a hard copy.
Superintendent Issue Briefs--There are six common challenges to achieve school indoor environmental quality: 1) Maintaining strong leadership, 2) Dealing with overcrowding, 3) Increasing Awareness and Prioritizing IEQ, 4) Implementing effective communication strategies, 5) Overcoming financial barriers, and 6) Creating networking opportunities. Each challenge is further analyzed in its own Superintendent Issue Brief to explain its impact on IEQ. For the Superintendent Issue Brief on Leadership, click here.
Building Success, Leading Change: Stories of Healthy School Environments-- The latest edition of this publication explores the parallels between urban and rural school districts that have successfully implemented and sustained a healthy learning environment by addressing indoor air quality. Read how the North East Independent School District of San Antonio, Texas and Auburn City Schools of Auburn, Alabama have become successful in achieving a healthy school environment. Click here to get the latest edition, or contact Yasmin Bowers, ybowers@aasa.org, for a hard copy.
Check out the YouTube video OR View and Download a PDF
AASA Offers Customized Indoor Air Quality ProgrammingDo you need to improve the indoor air quality of the schools in your district? Are you looking to direct your staff to reliable assistance and training in pest management, HVAC standards and proper maintenance? Do you know what choices to make to ensure that your students’ learning environments are the best suited for active engagement, asthma control and improved test scores? AASA offers its members and their district staff technical assistance, information and networking opportunities proven to help school districts start and sustain customized indoor air quality programs. Complete the Indoor Air Quality Technical Assistance Form (PDF) for individualized assistance and information for your district.
AASA Healthy School Environment ResourcesView a list of resources generated from AASA’s effort to support school leaders committed to creating healthy school environments.
Additional Healthy School ResourcesLearn about resources available from other organizations and government agencies working to increase awareness of this issue among school leaders.
Staff Contact:Yasmin Bowers703-875-0759ybowers@aasa.org