SAN FERNANDO/SYLMAR : Schools Seek Grant for Health Services

Believing that a good education begins with healthy students, seven northeast Valley schools have joined together to apply for a $250,000 grant from the state Department of Education, hoping to turn their campuses into miniature community service centers.

Administrators from Olive Vista and San Fernando middle schools and Sylmar, El Dorado Avenue, Morningside, Gridley Street, O’Melveny and San Fernando elementary schools are meeting monthly to write a proposal for the Healthy Start grant, which would provide health and social services for schoolchildren and parents.

In its third year, the $19-million Healthy Start program provided grants to about 100 communities throughout California last year, according to a spokeswoman for the state Department of Education.

The schools can apply for either the $50,000 planning grant or an operational grant of up to $400,000, or both.

Administrators from the seven schools, and a representative from the San Fernando Valley Partnership Against Substance Abuse, are outlining the services such as mental health counseling, dental exams, vision screening and health education that they believe are needed for students and parents in the community.

Victoria Verches, the principal at Gridley Street Elementary, said the availability of such services would improve student performance at school.

“Student health really affects attendance,” Verches said. “There is a high number of immigrant families that are not comfortable going outside of the community to get assistance. I think this will help families to get services they are just not getting.”