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Health Education

Contact Information

Phone: 301-766-2929

In Washington County Public Schools, Comprehensive Health Education includes instruction in the following seven content areas:

Standard #1: Mental and Emotional Health Unit

Standard #2: Alcohol, tobacco and other drugs unit

standard #3: personal and consumer health unit

Standard #4: Family life and human sexuality unit

Standard #5: safety and injury unit

Standard #6: Nutrition and fitness unit

standard #7: disease prevention and control unit

In addition to these topics, the health education program includes components from school health services, food services, counseling and school psychology services and healthful school environments.

Since health education is multi-dimensional, it has application in many disciplines. Therefore, responsibility for delivery also is shared and/or reinforced in science, social studies, language arts, guidance, family life, physical education and family and consumer science.

At the elementary level, health education is taught primarily by physical education teachers. In middle schools, health education generally is taught as a rotation in Unified/Related Arts or in physical education. In high schools there is a one credit graduation requirement in the course Health Education/Life Skills.

Family Life is taught in grades 5-10. The topics include physical and emotional maturation, reproduction, physical and sexual abuse, sexually transmitted diseases, HIV/AIDS instruction and information on pregnancy prevention with emphasis on abstinence. Students may be excused from this unit of the program upon written request from a student’s parent or guardian.