What you’ll learn…
Back-to-school season is the perfect time to make sure your child is healthy and ready to learn. A few simple steps on our back-to-school health checklist—like scheduling an annual wellness visit, confirming immunizations are up to date, completing vision, dental, and sports physicals exams, and refilling medications—can help prevent disruptions once school begins. Preparing now helps Wyoming students stay healthy, miss fewer school days, and start the new school year confidently.
In this article we’ll take a look at a handy health checklist with steps and resources to set your student up for success this school year.
The back-to-school season is filled with shopping trips, new routines, and plenty of excitement. It’s also the perfect time to make sure your child’s health is ready for the new year.
Schedule an Annual Wellness Visit
A yearly wellness visit helps your child’s primary care provider monitor growth and development, discuss nutrition and sleep, answer questions, and identify concerns.
If your student participates in sports, schedule any required physicals early. Appointments fill up quickly.
Check Immunizations
Before classes begin, make sure your child’s immunizations are up to date. Wyoming requires certain vaccinations for children attending childcare, preschool, and K-12 schools, and many colleges have additional recommendations for students living on campus.
Your health care provider can help you determine which immunizations are appropriate based on your child’s age and school requirements.
Get Back to Healthy Routines
Summer schedules often mean later nights and slower mornings. Ease back into a school routine by gradually adjusting bedtimes and wake-up times a week or two before classes begin.
Review Medications and Preventive Care
If your child has asthma, allergies, diabetes, or another chronic condition, refill prescriptions before school starts and make sure medications are available both at home and at school.
Don’t forget routine vision and dental appointments. Catching problems early can help prevent them for affecting classroom performance and limit unexpected absences.
Support Mental Well-Being
Back-to-school transitions can bring excitement, but they can also create anxiety. Younger children may worry about new teachers and classmates, while teens and college students may feel a host of academic and social pressures.
Take time to check in with your child. Simple conversations about how they are feeling can help build confidence and create opportunities to address concerns.
Back-to-School Health Checklist
Before the first day of school, make sure you’ve checked these off your list:
Did You Know?
Most BCBSWY health plans cover preventive wellness visits for children at no additional cost when using in-network providers. Annual checkups help create a consistent patient record, identify health concerns early, and keep students healthy throughout the school year. Check your plan benefits or log into your member portal to learn more.
For the most up-to-date immunization information, please visit: