Healthy Schools

New Mexico Healthy Schools Project 

Project Director: Theresa H. Cruz, PhD
Project Contact: Robyn L. Viera, MA

The New Mexico Public Education Department is working with New Mexico school districts to promote the health and well-being of children and adolescents in New Mexico schools in partnership with the UNM Prevention Research Center (PRC).  The Healthy Schools Project provides New Mexico an opportunity to build and enhance infrastructure and capacity to strengthen physical activity, physical education, health education, nutrition, and management of chronic disease in schools as a pathway to academic success. Healthy students are better learners, and academic achievement bears a lifetime of benefits for health. Schools are an ideal setting to teach and provide students with opportunities to improve their dietary and physical activity behaviors and manage their chronic health conditions (asthma, diabetes, epilepsy, food allergies, and poor oral health). When policies and practices are put in place to support healthy school environments, healthy students can grow to be healthy and successful adults.

The project is funded through the New Mexico Public Education Department, Safe and Healthy Schools Bureau under a five-year federal grant entitled, “Improving Student Health and Academic Achievement through Nutrition, Physical Activity and the Management of Chronic Conditions in Schools,” through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Division of Population Health, School Health Branch; and in collaboration with the other state agencies, and local partners. 

Principal Investigator: Theresa H. Cruz, PhD 
Source of Funding: New Mexico Public Education Department, Safe and Healthy Schools Bureau

School-Based HIV Prevention Grant

Project Director: Theresa H. Cruz, PhD
Project Contact: Robyn L. Viera, MA

The Albuquerque Public Schools (APS) in partnership with the UNM Prevention Research Center (PRC) is working with the Student Health & Life Skills (SHLS) Department to support the reduction of student risk behaviors through the School-based HIV Prevention Grant. The grant is funded through a five-year cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Division of Population Health, School Health Branch. 

The UNM PRC works with the SHLS department to evaluate participants’ comfort and willingness to implement strategies and curricula in schools, collect information about the fidelity of implementation of the SHLS program curricula in health classes, and measure program reach, including the number of students and teachers served, and demographic information in support of APS health education topics such as HIV/AIDS prevention, LGBTQ+ support, healthy relationships, and parent/child communication. 

Principal Investigator: Theresa H. Cruz, PhD 
Source of Funding: Albuquerque Public Schools, Student Health & Life Skills Department