PGCPS Open School-Based Health Centers to Support Students

This month, Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) opened the first of the district’s new School-Based Health Centers (SBHCs). The SBHCs serve as on-campus doctors’ offices for students.

The grand opening on March 23 took place at Fairmont Heights High School in Capitol Heights, Maryland. Additional SBHCs have opened at Northwestern High School, Oxon Hill High School, and Walker Mill Middle School.

“They don’t have to leave the premises. They can go and get their care and then go back to school. So, parents don’t have to take off work for their child to be seen, and it also reduces the time they have to miss from class,” Prince George’s County Public Schools’ Supervisor for the Office of School Health, Dr. Traci Jones, said.

PGCPS and United Way of the National Capital Area are committed to providing children with access to healthcare regardless of insurance coverage, immigration status, or ability to pay. In the event a student does not have health insurance, a social worker will help families apply for insurance.
 

“Parents can say, ‘There’s a School-Based Health Center. I can send my child there. They can get the care they need. I can still meet my family’s needs by going to work and know my child is getting the best care they need and deserve,” Dr. Jones said. “Our kids are going to grow up. Who’s going to take care of us if they’re not healthy?”

The centers provide accessible primary care, urgent care for illness and injury, behavioral health services, preventative care, and health education. A nurse practitioner staffs each center to provide care to any student with a signed consent form.
  

Prince George’s County has a history of success with School-Based Health Centers, but was discontinued in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. In November 2024, PGCPS partnered with United Way NCA to lead a needs assessment to help guide the district in reopening centers. The district also partners with Children’s National Hospital to provide care.

“We would not have been able to open up any School-Based Health Center without the due diligence and the work of United Way (of the National Capital Area). That is a fact. Working with United Way has been seamless. They’ve always been accessible. They know the community, so they work within the community because of their broad reach. They did a good job of touching real people and getting real feedback,” DeeDee Smith Foster, a Registered Nurse with Prince George’s County Public Schools, said. “We drilled in on some of those areas where we saw there was greater need—where there were low-income students, ZIP codes that had less access to health care.”

United Way NCA’s needs assessment included rigorous data analysis and surveys in a dozen schools capturing the voices of 387 households representing 738 students. The data-driven results helped PGCPS determine which sites to open and in what order. The surveys showed families were eager for the return of SBHCs.

“We wanted to make sure we provided access equitably,” Dr. Jones said. “United Way NCA then took it and ran with it.”

School officials argue the SBHCs will help students in the classroom and expand economic opportunity for families and the community.

“The data shows gaps in our system and access to care. A deeper connection is possible with the parents and students, which helps build the community. Because we have access to them, we’re able to fill in the gaps better,” Smith Foster said. “As families get acclimated to all the resources the School-Based Health Center can offer, they’ll be more comfortable using those things.”

By the end of the 2025-2026 school year, Prince George’s County plans to open three additional SBHCs at Sonia Sotomayor Middle School, Hyattsville Middle School, and Drew Freeman Middle School.

DeeDee Smith Foster:

“Everyone struggles. There are pockets of struggle in every community, in every corner of this county and the state.”

“It will catch on and once people see what it can do, I know those who are in need who maybe did not know the school could be a resource in that way, I know they’ll lean on it because they already trust us with their kids.”

“We’re going to offer resources we have not offered before in school.”

“It truly starts in the school. If we have a school where we’re not being distracted from kids being sick and having to leave out of the classroom all the time or have to send home 4-5 kids a day because they’re not well, it breaks up the system. It’s a constant disruption.”

“We will not have been able to open up any School-Based Health Center without the due diligence and the work of United Way (of the National Capital Area). That is a fact.”

“(United Way NCA was) able to help out with a needs assessment, touching the community, actually showing up at community events, talking to students, talking to parents, getting feedback on how they would feel about a School-Based Health Center, what types of resources they’d like to see—just getting real, tangible feedback so we could see what’s viable.”

“We might as well be in an Urgent Care. I was amazed to see a full lab. Wow. That is impressive.”

Dr. Jones:
“Parents can say ‘There’s a School-Based Health Center. I can send my child there. They can get the care they need. I can still meet my family’s needs by going to work and know my child is getting the best care they need and deserve.’”

“(United Way NCA) conducted a needs assessment so we could use that information to determine not only where we should open the centers, but which ones to open first.”

“Our kids are going to grow up. Who’s going to take care of us if they’re not healthy?”

“We’re doing it here at Fairmont Heights High School, but it’s really the grand opening for the first four School-Based Health Centers.”

“We really, really need the donations to come in so (United Way NCA) can continue to help us, so we can continue to help the kids.”