School Is in Session: Classroom Health and Wellness Updates in 2025

🏫 School Is in Session: Classroom Health and Wellness Updates in 2025  

There’s just something about cooler temperatures, fresh notebooks, and a renewed set of goals for the rest of the year. Whether you’re getting kids back to school or you’re leveraging the fall as a time of renewal for yourself, this autumn version of a new year it’s a great time to get motivated and healthy.

It’s something that’s not always at the top of mind when we think about education or the start of a new school year. If you find yourself focusing more on curriculum, on gathering all the textbooks and supplies, on making sure your kids’ forms are all filled out, and laying out the new schedule for the year, it’s understandable; after all, those things do play an important role in education. But health and wellness as an important facet of educational success (which is about a whole lot more than reminding kids to wash their hands and stay home from school if they have a fever), is topping the list of classroom conversations and trends. Here are some of the newest focuses and updates teachers and education researchers are making to the business of school.

1. 💤 Prioritize Sleep & School Start Times

• Teaching sleep in schools: A tired brain is a brain that is 40% less adept at learning. For the most effective learning, it’s less about your student getting a mountain of homework done and far more about the sleep they get both before and after being in the classroom. Dr. Matthew Walker, a sleep scientist at the University of California, Berkeley, says “We’ve learned that sleep before learning helps prepare your brain for initial formation of memories. And then, sleep after learning is essential to help save and cement that new information into the architecture of the brain, meaning that you’re less likely to forget it.” ¹ Because adequate and quality sleep is such a critical factor in supporting the brain for learning, Mansfield Senior High School in Ohio. In Ohio, Mansfield Senior High launched a curriculum called “Sleep to Be a Better You.” Students are taught how to log their sleep habits, make good sleep a priority, and learn the connection between sleep and improved mental health. ²

80% of teenagers get far less sleep than they should, and the distractions to good sleep are more significant than ever. Hours that should be for catching shut eye are spent scrolling through social media, gaming, and, yes, powering through long and complex homework assignments that require hours of preparation. While some parents and teachers might view pulling all nighters for school assignments as part of some long-held rite of passage, brain research shows that those practices are causing the brain to work against itself when it comes to learning. A rested brain is a better brain, better able to function, troubleshoot, problem solve, and absorb information.

• Later school start times: By April 2025, 13 U.S. states had passed legislation encouraging middle/high schools to begin classes later in the morning. Why? Research shows that for every extra hour of sleep a student gets before needing to be at school, their behavior and learning improves and substance abuse rates drop. ³   The CDC recommendation is that school start no earlier than 8:30 am, so that students could use that later start time for more sleep. The sleep patterns instituted in a student’s early life can tend to be what they operate by in their professional life in the future, a trend that is estimated to cost upwards of $680 billion in productivity, workplace errors, and illness, across the U.S., Japan, the UK, Germany, and Canada. ⁴

• What your student is learning about rest: From a faith perspective, the work and rest cycles a student experiences while still living at home deeply impacts the life patterns they develop for themselves. For families who hold a strong faith in God, including the precepts of Sabbath and rest, it’s more important than ever to model reasonable schedules and a trust in God’s design for the human body, which includes a significant need for sleep. While the world may promote a ‘grind’ mentality, claiming it’s the only way to succeed, by both creed and scientific research, it’s clear that sleep and rest are important engines for success and sustainability.

“The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath”

Mark 2:27

2. ❤️‍🩹 Including Mental Health in the Scholastic Conversation

• The numbers are important: While there are many opinions and theories about the data we’re seeing about today’s students, the stark reality is that students as a whole have declining mental health. 40% of high schoolers report persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, over 20% say they have considered suicide and nearly 10% attempted suicide. 21% of children ages 3 to 17 have been diagnosed with an emotional, mental, or behavioral issue. ⁵
• Why it matters: The Association for Children’s Mental Health reports, “Only 40 percent of students with emotional, behavioral and mental health disorders graduate from high school, versus the average of 76%. In the 14 and older age group, over 50% of students diagnosed with a behavioral or emotional disability, drops out of school.” ⁶ If your child doesn’t struggle with mental health issues, it doesn’t mean they aren’t impacted. Classroom interruptions, aggressive behaviors, and other challenges make a difference in the climate and culture of a school. 2025 health‑share strategies emphasize holistic well‑being—integrating mental, emotional, social, and spiritual health4 numberanalytics.com+3kc.edu+3thelatrust.org+3.
• What’s being done: Currently, about 55% of American public schools have diagnostic programs for mental health assessment, and 42% offer on-site counseling services. ⁷ Educational professionals are calling for greater access and resources for helping students in holistic well-being. Organizations like Active Minds are offering mental health resources and programs for free to schools across the U.S. For Members of Altrua HealthShare, 24/7 telecounseling is available through Telus, along with a number of in-person sessions available, depending on your state. You can contact a Member Services Representative at 1-888-244-3839 for more information. If you’re not yet a Member of Altrua HealthShare or if you have questions about your level of membership, you can also reach out to Member Services with any questions or information requests. 

3. 🍱 Rethinking the School Cafeteria Nutrition 

• New school nutritional standards: Lower sugar, better quality whole foods, sodium reduction, these are just a few of the changes that are being made in school nutrition programs. This has allowed the quality of school meals to greatly improve over the last few years, and there are more changes on the horizon to continue to raise the nutritional profile of the school cafeteria. ⁸ 
• Food as curriculum: Historically, students have received very little education about healthy eating and nutritional guidance, and, unfortunately, the time spent on this type of instruction has continued to drop. The CDC found that “U.S. students receive less than 8 hours of required nutrition education each school year. That’s far below the 40–50 hours that are needed to change behavior. And the percentage of schools providing required instruction on nutrition and dietary behaviors decreased between 2000 and 2014: from 84.6% to 74.1%. ⁹  Recommendations for elements like field trips to farms, growing a school garden, along with classroom curriculum teaching food sourcing, nutrition, and other health connections to diet are being encouraged as part of core educational content.

Whatever school choice you make for your children, nothing replaces the lessons and example you set in your family life. Here are some suggestions for the upcoming months to bring a health and wellness activities to your family life, with a faith focus:

📋 Faith‑Based Health Calendar for Families

✅ Praying for a Great Year!

In 2025, health and education trends keep more balance, nutrition, rest, and mental wellness at the forefront. After all, these elements are critical for better learning. Our brains more easily take in new information and are better able to complete assignments, listen, and participate, when we’re rested, feel safe and included, and are supported by good food. 

May God bless you and your children this new school year with strength, resilience, and shared wellness of body, soul, and community. Know that, whether or not you’re currently a Member of Altrua HealthShare or are simply considering becoming one, our team is here to pray for you, for a healthy year of educational and personal growth. 

¹ https://newsinhealth.nih.gov/2013/04/sleep-it
² https://apnews.com/article/sleep-teenager-social-media-mental-health-73cbe76dd122e2acbd2ba1c6ae13c7f3
³ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2352721817300347
⁴ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5627640/#:~:text=Up%20to%20%24680,productivity%20related%20mechanisms.
⁵ https://www.cdc.gov/children-mental-health/data-research/index.html
⁶ https://effectiveschoolsolutions.com/mental-health-in-schools-educators-guide/#:~:text=according%20to%20The%20Association,drops%20out%20of%20school.%E2%80%9D
⁷ https://www.schoolsthatlead.org/blog/mental-health-in-schools-statistics#:~:text=Only%2055%25%20of%20public%20schools%20offer%20diagnostic%20mental%20health%20assessments%2C%20and%20even%20fewer%20provide%20treatment.%2042%25%20of%20K%2D12%20schools%20offered%20mental%20health%20treatment%20through%20counseling%20and%20psychotherapy%20to%20minimize%20symptoms.%C2%A0
⁸  https://www.fns.usda.gov/cn/school-nutrition-standards-updates#:~:text=Added%20Sugars1%20:%20Starting%20in,least%2050%20percent%20whole%20grains).
⁹   https://www.cdc.gov/school-nutrition/education/index.html#:~:text=U.S.%20students%20receive%20less%20than%208,2000%20and%202014%3A%20from%2084.6%25%20to%2074.1%25.