For many Black families, back-to-school season is about more than buying backpacks and fresh sneakers. It’s balancing work schedules, after-school activities, transportation, and making sure children are healthy enough to start the year strong. Amid all the shopping and planning, one important item often gets pushed to the bottom of the list: your child’s health.
Back-to-school preparation isn’t about checking boxes or trying to be the “perfect” parent. It’s about giving your child the healthiest possible start to a new school year.
If scheduling multiple appointments feels overwhelming, start with your child’s annual wellness visit. Your pediatrician can help determine which screenings, vaccines, or follow-up care should come next.
Here are five doctor’s visits worth putting on the calendar before the first bell rings.
Annual wellness visits are about much more than checking a child’s height and weight. They allow pediatricians to monitor physical, emotional, and developmental health, answer parents’ questions, and identify concerns before they begin affecting a child’s success in school. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends yearly well-child visits because they help ensure children are healthy, up to date on screenings and immunizations, and ready to learn.
Pediatrician Shanika Boyce, MD, Assistant Dean of Medical Education at Charles R. Drew University, has spoken to BlackDoctor about the value of these conversations: she emphasizes that listening to parents and building trust—rather than treating a visit as a checklist of tasks—helps families feel heard and more open to their pediatrician’s guidance.
For Black families, these visits are also an opportunity to build trust with a pediatrician who understands your child’s health history and to ask questions about concerns that disproportionately affect Black children, such as asthma or sickle cell disease if it runs in your family.
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A child who can’t clearly see the classroom board or hear instructions may seem distracted, frustrated, or unmotivated when the real issue is an undiagnosed vision or hearing problem.
Talk with your pediatrician about whether your child needs updated screenings, especially if you’ve noticed frequent squinting, headaches, sitting close to screens, or trouble following classroom directions. Catching this early can make a real difference once school starts.
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Many schools require students to be up to date on routine immunizations before classes begin, and the American Academy of Pediatrics and HealthyChildren.org both recommend reviewing your child’s vaccine record well before the first day.
Waiting until the last minute can make it harder to get an appointment during one of the busiest seasons for pediatric practices. If your child missed a vaccine appointment, don’t panic—your pediatrician can help you put together an appropriate catch-up schedule.
Scheduling this appointment a few weeks before school starts can help families avoid the late-summer rush at many pediatric offices.
If your child takes prescription medication or manages a chronic condition, now is the time to make sure everything is current: refilling prescriptions, renewing an EpiPen, updating an asthma action plan, or reviewing a diabetes management plan with your pediatrician.
CDC data shows current asthma prevalence among Black children is more than double that of white children (12.5 percent compared with 5.7 percent), making it especially important for families to have an updated Asthma Action Plan on file before school begins.
If your child has asthma, ask your pediatrician to complete or update an Asthma Action Plan (see below for our helpful checklist) for the school nurse and teachers before the first day of school.
Before school starts, parents should make sure the nurse has updated emergency contacts, medication authorization forms, and any action plans for asthma, allergies, diabetes, or other medical conditions that require support during the school day.
School nurses do much more than hand out ice packs. They help manage chronic conditions, administer medications, respond to emergencies, and serve as an important link between families, schools, and healthcare providers.
The CDC notes that school nurses are often the only healthcare provider in a school and play a critical role in helping students with chronic conditions like asthma, diabetes, and food allergies stay healthy and in class. Before the first day, confirm the school has:
If your child has asthma, food allergies, sickle cell disease, diabetes, or another condition that requires support during the school day, don’t assume school staff already know what to do. Ask how teachers, coaches, and the school nurse communicate about student health needs.
Good communication between families, healthcare providers, and school staff helps children stay healthy and safe throughout the year.
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A little planning now can help your child spend less time in the nurse’s office and more time focused on learning, growing, and enjoying the school year.
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