KidCheck FAQs

Height and Weight, BMI, Temperature, Blood Pressure, Vision, Dental, Heart and Respiratory Rates, Heart & Lung Sounds, and Ear, Nose and Throat Exams.

KidCheck is based on model health screening programs that have taken place for over a decade in the Bibb County School System (in partnership with the University of Alabama’s Capstone School of Nursing) and the Blount County School System (in conjunction with the Wallace Community College Hanceville School of Nursing).

43 Alabama school systems have implemented KidCheck and it is now an annual part of the school year for the majority of those school systems.

A total of 25 two- and four-year Alabama college nursing schools have partnered with KidCheck to provide the health screenings.

By the end of the 2010-2011 school year, approximately 80,000 school children will have received KidCheck screenings in the first three years of the program.

Sight Savers works directly with each local KidCheck event coordinator and any child failing a KidCheck vision screening can be referred to Sight Savers for personal case management of their eye care needs.  Sight Savers America provides free comprehensive follow-up eye care services for eligible children including dilated eye exam, eyeglasses, assistive technology for low vision, repair/replacement of broken or lost eyeglasses and other prescribed treatment.

During the 2009-2010 school year, Sight Savers America coordinated follow-up eye care for 1,182 children failing KidCheck vision-screenings.

KidCheck is a comprehensive school-based health screening program that is open to any interested K-12 school system in Alabama. KidCheck is a department of Sight Savers America.

KidCheck was created in 2008 by Governor Bob Riley’s Alabama Rural Action Commission.  In 2011, KidCheck was moved from state government to Sight Savers America, an Alabama-based nonprofit, with the full support of Governor Robert Bentley’s Administration including the Governor’s Alabama Rural Development Office and the Alabama Department of Education.

KidCheck helps to build partnerships between interested school systems and college nursing schools.  College nursing students administer KidCheck, under faculty supervision, and receive practical experience and valuable clinical hours.  School children receive the health screenings and parents are notified of their results and we build partnerships to assist with necessary follow-up care.

KidCheck events take place during the school day in the school gym or cafeteria of participating K-12 school systems.  8-10 screening stations are set up at each event.