The Beginnings of Student Wellness
In 1909, Superintendent of Schools, Mr. L.S. Heater was very much interested in the relationship of health to scholarship and decided to appoint a physician to make a study.  Dr. Edward A. Meyerding received the appointment and later asked for a nurse to assist him.  Later in the same year, Mrs. Virginia Rice became the first Saint Paul School Nurse.

In 1915, the state legislature allotted state aid for classes for the hard of hearing, blind, and for children with speech problems.  Classes for crippled children did not begin until 1921.  The Mary Helen Lindsay School for crippled children was opened in November 1931, with an enrollment of 50 orthopedic and 16 cardiac students.

The school nurses, then as now, assisted in the growth of these classes and in maintaining maximum enrollment by early detection of handicaps and through the education of parents.  Taxicab transportation was provided for students who needed it.

Dental hygiene week in November, 1915, showed the need of dental health education for school children and parents.  Early in 1916, the St. Paul Dental Association, through their chairman, assisted the Division of Hygiene in the establishment of a free school clinic at the old Cleveland grade school.  Clinics were soon begun at other schools.  The need for dental hygienists had been felt since the first dental clinic opened.  The course in Dental Hygiene in the College of Dentistry at the University of Minnesota was established in 1920 and after 1922 registered Dental Hygienists were available to fill the need in the schools.  Muriel Canan, the first registered dental hygienist in the Saint Paul Schools, was assigned to the district in 1923.

Diphtheria cases were cut from 1,925 in 1919 to 71 in 1929, six years after the immunization program was begun.  In 1924-1925, Minnesota had a serious smallpox epidemic, but great effort was put into vaccinations for all.  Cases in Saint Paul numbered 842 with 32 deaths, a mortality rate of 3.8%.  A neighboring city had 1,404 cases with 365 deaths, a mortality rate of 26%.

About 1919, scales were purchased for all schools and all children were weighed and measured.  A nutrition consultant, Miss Maud Miller, was appointed in 1922 and worked with the schools to improve childhood health through nutrition.  Meal stations were opened in some schools in 1922 as a result of her efforts.  Local weight contests were held in various schools throughout the district during the 1924-25 school year.  Children below weight were entered in a “Let’s Grow” contest and prizes were offered by the newspaper.  Weight and growth, as well as general physical condition, were taken into consideration and final judging was done by the school physician.

The first hearing screening program began in 1926.  A school nurse and teacher from the Research Department conducted the tests on an audiometer loaned by the Graybar Electric Company.

In 1930 with the help of the Ramsey County Public Health Association, an education program stressing the value of early detection of tuberculosis using the Mantoux test was started.

In 1944-45, due to the increased prevalence of ringworm of the scalp, a special school was opened for afflicted children with this disease who were excluded from regular school.  Nurses were responsible for seeing that each child entering a Saint Paul School from outside the city was given a Wood Lamp check.  A clinic was opened at the bureau of Health to facilitate the screenings that continued for a number of years.

Since 1945, all handicapped students have been reported to the State Division of Vocational Rehabilitation.

In 1949 the State Legislature appropriated funds for home instruction of children whose physical condition made it impossible for them to attend school.  The homebound instruction program was later expanded to include pregnant girls and emotionally disturbed students who were not able to continue in regular classes.

The scope of the school health program has broadened greatly during the past years.  Because of mass immunization, less emphasis is being placed on control of communicable disease and more time is given to health counseling and health education.  With the addition of federal funds and programs as well as increased state aids, services have been expanded in the area of special education.  Throughout the district, health teams composed of school personnel and community agencies work together for the general well being of all children while using a family-centered approach.