Build Supports for the Whole Child

A whole child education is an approach to ensure students are healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged. It is a set of strategies that meets the academic, physical, and social-emotional development demands of students so that they can reach their full potential. As school leaders, policymakers, parents, and the public undertake efforts to address the many challenges today’s children are experiencing and increase student achievement, a whole child education provides a helpful framework to organize, coordinate, and deliver such support.

Some of the lessons of the early 2020s and COVID-19 highlight the importance of a whole child education. NAESP’s Leaders We Need Now examined the sudden shifts schools experienced at the height of the pandemic.

In the research report, principals mentioned an urgent focus on creating a community of care and support for students during 2020–2021. This pivot meant addressing not just academic needs, but also social-emotional well-being, mental health, and basic necessities such as food security and internet access.

This experience prompted educators to rethink school improvement plans going forward to incorporate strategies for social-emotional learning, enhanced family engagement, and culturally responsive curricula. They know what the public now is starting to understand—that family trauma, external influences outside of school and beyond the control of educators and students, and social-emotional well-being and resiliency have profound influences on academic success.

A Comprehensive Approach

For Pre-K–8 educators navigating the challenges of postpandemic education, the whole child framework offers a powerful approach to support student recovery and growth. While many school leaders intuitively understand the importance of addressing students’ comprehensive needs, implementing a truly holistic strategy requires an intentional, systemic effort.

That means adopting more than a collection of best practices; the strategy must represent a commitment to rethink the educational experience to prioritize what’s best for the student in a coordinated way. Such an approach encompasses issues including academic recovery, accelerated learning, and chronic absenteeism and extends beyond to consider the child’s overall well-being.

There are a range of whole child strategies that principals can put into practice in their schools and that policymakers can adopt to provide more overall support to students. These include but are not limited to:

1. Essential support roles. School counselors and nurses play vital roles in K–8 education, contributing to both academic success and overall well-being. The American School Counselor Association recommends a 250:1 student-to-counselor ratio, yet the national average is 376:1, with elementary and middle school ratios ranging from 581:1 to 702:1. This shortage stems from outdated perceptions of counselors as primarily college and career advisers. In reality, school counselors are certified educators who support social-emotional skills, academic strategies, school culture improvement, and collaboration with families and teachers.

Similarly, school nurses are indispensable in creating nurturing environments where students thrive. These health care professionals manage chronic conditions, conduct screenings, and serve as trusted health resources. Yet, over one-third of U.S. schools lack a full-time nurse, despite recommendations from the American Pediatric Association. Advocating for full-time nurses and counselors emphasizes their necessity and reinforces the commitment to holistic child development in education.

2. Universal school meals. When federal officials waived school meal eligibility requirements during COVID-19 to allow all students access to free meals, principals saw the immediate impact. Most reported that students performed better and behaved better when the stigma associated with the program was removed. One principal called the move a “game-changer,” and many school leaders were disappointed when the old, restrictive rules were reinstituted.

Fortunately, states have taken up the cause; eight now provide universal school meals. Federal and state leaders need to work to make universal school meals a reality nationwide, so that all students have access to nutritious meals that fuel their learning.

3. Physically and emotionally safe learning environments. A school that feels safe to students, staff, and families fosters trust and learning. Besides the obvious physical security measures that keep schools safe, it is essential for school leaders to create a nurturing learning environment in which students feel valued. Such spaces and feelings encourage creativity, self-​expression, and authentic engagement.

Regular surveys of school climate can help leaders understand students’ sense of safety and perceptions of care. Once areas in need of improvement are identified, school leaders should be prepared to dig deep to create effective tools to address them. Surveys—and subsequent action—foster a sense of ownership and engagement by demonstrating that student opinions matter.

4. Student and family engagement. Fostering robust school-family-​community partnerships is critical to whole child education. Schools should proactively and continuously invite families and guardians to school to engage them in the school’s learning goals and processes, encourage active partnership, and participate in school-family-community-building events.

Opportunities such as regular open houses and parent-​teacher conferences, family workshops on supporting learning at home, community-​building activities, and volunteer opportunities lead to a school culture that recognizes that a student’s success is deeply intertwined with their family and community context.

5. Comprehensive education. Physical education, art, and music are core subjects and should be prioritized as such. These classes are not academic luxuries; they are essential to the cognitive and emotional development of students and foundational to any definition of a well-rounded education. Engagement in these areas enhances academic performance across other subjects, improves mental health, and develops essential life skills such as teamwork and self-expression.

Similarly, recess, afterschool, and extracurricular activities offer a wide range of opportunities for students to explore their interests, enhance their social skills, and develop leadership abilities. They need to be made available to every student. School leaders should advocate for robust programs in these areas, integrating them into the core curriculum to ensure a well-rounded education.

6. Multiple measures of achievement. Students learn in different ways and should be given ample options to demonstrate their knowledge. Effective teachers must have the expertise and the autonomy to create and administer authentic student assessments. In that same vein, leaders need to move beyond state and local standardized tests to give students a variety of opportunities to showcase their content mastery.

Schools can embrace diverse assessment methods including project-based learning that encourages students to tackle real-​world problems and present findings through multimedia projects or community-based initiatives. Performance-​based assessments such as debates and scientific experiments allow students to demonstrate knowledge in dynamic ways. Digital platforms have expanded assessment possibilities, too. These multi­faceted approaches provide multiple pathways for students to showcase their abilities and foster a more creative and equitable environment that acknowledges each learner’s unique talents and perspectives.

A Shift in Mindset

Many of these strategies are already working in schools, districts, and states around the country. By adopting and implementing such concepts, schools and school systems can create learning environments that nurture the developmental needs of each student and create the conditions for academic achievement and overall success.

What’s needed to achieve this goal is a mindset shift that places the needs of the child at the center of all educational efforts and a commitment to fully serve each student. To realize such a transformation, we need champions who are willing to lead by example, share their insights and lessons learned, and provide a vision of what’s possible to educators, policymakers, and the public. NAESP is taking the lead in these efforts to highlight the work of our members and for their benefit.

In short, we need pre-K–8 school principals to be active advocates for the work they do every day to support whole child education in schools. Together, NAESP and its members can lead a whole child movement that builds support inside schools and outside of education to reimagine what educational success looks like for students and provides a means to achieve it.

David Griffith is NAESP’s associate executive director of policy and advocacy.