Promoting Health and Happiness with Checkups!

Health and wellness are essential both to successful learning and to our overall well-being! We're incredibly grateful to the New England College of Optometry (NECO) and Smile Programs for providing free eye exams and dental cleanings for our students.

NECO, located in nearby Back Bay, is one of the oldest optometry schools in the country. A professor and eight first-year students set up their eye exam stations in our 58 Berkeley STEM lab. One by one, students from the preschool classrooms anxiously lined up for their exams. For many, this was their very first experience with such a check-up, but the optometry students were warm and inviting, guiding each child to a special chair where they covered one eye to read a picture chart and observe playful finger puppets from various distances. The children responded to the sense of play, and even some of our more energetic students were surprisingly calm throughout the process.

Smile Programs, a mobile dental service with a “no child is turned away” policy, made sure our students received top-notch care. Sitting in big, comfortable dentist chairs, they were treated by a dentist and two hygienists. All students had their teeth brushed and then were checked for plaque, given a fluoride treatment, and taught how to maintain good oral health.

We're so thankful for these generous organizations and the care they provided for our students!