Health & Wellness

School Based Health Center (SBHC)

Upstate Family Health Canter has established a School Based Health Center (SBHC) at Memorial Park Elementary School and the Jr./Sr. High School. An SBHC provides primary care and preventative health care services in school to those enrolled in the program. These services include:

• Complete physical examinations
• Vision, hearing, and scoliosis screenings
• Immunizations, Flu vaccines
• Diagnosis and treatment of both short term and long term illnesses
• Health education and wellness promotion
• Mental health screenings and referrals

All students are eligible to enroll in the School Based Health Center. We do not replace the student’s primary care doctor, we work with them. There are no out of pocket expenses for any service provided by the SBHC. If a student is currently enrolled in the SBHC, the student’s enrollment will continue each school year until the student graduates.

If Upstate Family Health Center, Inc. is a student’s primary care physician, and there is a need to see a physician over the summer, please contact:
Upstate Family Health Center
1001 Noyes Street
Utica, NY 13502
(315) 624-9470

As always, we encourage students to be seen by their primary care physicians for annual physicals. If there is anything we can do to help your student prepare for the summer or the school year, please contact the SBHC.

Summer Hours 2024

The Health Center will be open Mondays and Wednesdays 8:30 – 11:30 a.m.

*Please note open Mondays and Wednesdays for the listed dates

Upstate Family Health Center Registration

If you wish to enroll your child in the SBHC, please complete the SBHC enrollment form below, and return it to the School Based Health Center as soon as possible.

Download an School Based Health Center Enrollment Form.

Health Screening

New York State schools are mandated by the Commissioner of Education to require each student enrolled in a public school to have a satisfactory health examination conducted by the student’s family physician, physician’s assistant or nurse practitioner upon the student’s entrance into Pre-Kindergarten or Kindergarten and grades 2, 4, 7, 9 and 11.

If your child will be entering a mandated grade in the fall, you are required to provide the district with a copy of a physical exam within 30 days of the start of the school year. This physical cannot be any more than 12 months old. If your child plans to play a sport, this exam will serve as a sport’s physical too.

Download a New York State Health Exam Form

Dental Health Certificate

New York State requests that all students entering grades Kindergarten, 2, 4, 7, and 10 provide the school with a Dental Health Certificate. This certificate must be signed by a dentist who has examined your child sometime within the past twelve months. It must state that the child is in “fit” condition of dental health to permit attendance at school. Contact SBHC for a Dental Health Certificate form to bring to your child’s dentist.

Immunization Information

Public Health Law 2164, as amended by Chapter 35 of the Laws of 2019, prohibits a school from permitting any child to be admitted to such school, or to attend such school, in excess of 14 days without sufficient evidence that the child has received all age-appropriate required vaccinations. The 14 days may be extended where the student is transferring from out of state or from another county and can show a good faith effort to get the necessary evidence or where the parent, guardian or any other person in parental relationship can demonstrate that a child has received the first age-appropriate dose in each immunization series and that they have age-appropriate scheduled appointments for follow-up doses to complete the immunization services in accordance with the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices Recommended Immunization Schedules for Persons Aged 0 through 18.

Acceptable proof of immunizations is a health care practitioner record, signed by a practitioner licensed in New York State. Records acceptable without a signature include:

• NYSIIS Record
• Official registry from another state
• Official record from a foreign nation
• Electronic health record
• School health record (must be transferred directly from one school to another)

Demonstrated serologic evidence of measles, mumps, rubella, hepatitis B, varicella or all three serotypes of polio antibodies is acceptable proof of immunity to these diseases. Diagnosis by a physician, physician assistant or nurse practitioner that a child has had varicella disease is acceptable proof of immunity to varicella. Please be advised that students not in compliance with the required immunization requirements, or those lacking proof of satisfactory progress toward completion, will be excluded from attending school until adequate proof is submitted.

Under a law signed by Governor Andrew Cuomo (Chapter 35 of the Laws of 2019), exemptions based on religious beliefs will no longer be allowed for the childhood vaccines that are currently required for entry or attendance at school in New York State.

If you have any questions, please contact SBHC.

View 2023-24 School Year New York State Immunization Requirements

Medicine Administration

New York State Education Department requires the school to have on file permission signed by the parent/guardian and the child’s physician before we can administer any mediation to your child. This includes both prescription and non-prescription (over the counter) medications. Contact your school’s SBHC for more information and a permission form.

Body Mass Index Information

As part of a required school health examination, a student is weighed and his/her height is measured. These numbers are used to figure out the student’s body mass index or ‘BMI’. The BMI helps the doctor or nurse know if the student’s weight is in a healthy range or is too high or too low. New York State Education Law requires that BMI and weight status group be included as part of the student’s school health examination. Each year, a sample of school districts are selected to take part in a survey by the New York State Department of Health (DOH).

When the district is selected to be part of the survey, parents will be notified that physical exams from the previous school year will be used for that NYS report. When surveyed by the state, only summary information is sent. No names or information about individual students are sent. Parents may choose to have a child’s information excluded from this survey report.

Learn more about About Child & Teen BMI on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.

If you do not wish to have your child’s weight status group information included, contact the SBHC.

Child Abuse Hotline

If you suspect a child is being abused or maltreated (neglected), report it by calling 1-800-342-3720, a toll-free 24-hour hotline operated by the New York State Office of Children and Family Services. If you believe a child is in immediate danger, call 911 or your local police department. Information about reporting child abuse and maltreatment (neglect) is available on the New York State Office of Children and Family Services Child Protective Services website.

If you cannot access the documents on this page, please call (518) 841-3900 or email Communications to obtain the document in an alternative format.

More Information

• Student Accident Insurance Claim Form
• Claim Form Instructions