In early May, dozens of school health and wellness leaders from across the Mid-Atlantic region gathered for a Kaiser Permanente Thriving Schools Summit. In its second year, the 2025 summit featured a wide variety of experts from across the region to delve into some of the most critical school health topics today — including how to manage fear to improve health outcomes, crisis response in schools, and improving attendance.
This year’s topics were designed to engage attendees across top-of-mind issues and challenges.
Fight, Flight or Flourish – Mitigating Fear for Better Health
This panel looked at the impact of fear on the mind and the body; demonstrated how fear impacts students, teachers, and staff on a daily basis; and explored techniques and resources that can be applied to mitigate the negative impacts. Attendees heard from a variety of experts, including physicians, counselors, resource providers — and perhaps most impressively — from Fairfax County high school students who talked about their experiences firsthand. Listen to a recording of the session.
Crisis Response in Schools
The panel zeroed in on the multi-tiered approach schools take to address crises in and around schools, and how the community can lean in and support schools and districts when they happen. The panel featured experts in school crisis, including school district coordinators who literally “wrote the book” on crisis response, school police officers, and school social workers. Listen to a recording of the session.
Attendance As a Vital Sign
The final panel of the day focused on one of the Thriving Schools’ national priorities. The panel clearly outlined the connection between health and attendance and provided resources and best practices for improving student attendance. The panel also featured local and national experts along with practitioners on attendance, weighing in on the science and art of supporting and increasing attendance. Listen to a recording of the session.
Early summit feedback from participants was overwhelmingly positive, with attendees reporting the information was relevant and insightful. Kaiser Permanente looks forward to making the Mid-Atlantic Thriving Schools Summit an annual event.
“You’re probably going to need a bigger space for next year because so many people are going to want to be a part of this.”
– Anne Arundel County Public Schools (Maryland) representative
