MEMPHIS, Tenn. — It was a warm summer day Friday, but it is worth the reminder that Shelby County Schools starts back in just three weeks.
District leaders said it is important to register children for school and make sure they get the proper healthcare.
The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Omega Ministries/Omega Health Practices, and other healthcare organizations are offering a free Back-to-School Family Affair event Saturday from 8 a.m. until noon at the UTHSC Student-Alumni Center at 800 Madison.
The event will offer free backpacks with school supplies for 1,000 students.
The event provides another essential that some parents forget this time of year.
“They find it sometimes not real convenient for them to schedule an appointment to get their shots and all of that, and so, they really appreciate coming to one place and not having to pay,” said UTHSC Director for Special Events and Community Affairs Pamela Houston.
Students heading back to school can receive free immunizations, physicals, and screenings.
“For our incoming kindergarten students, it’s just that. It’s physicals and immunizations,” said SCS Director of Attendance and Discipline Angela Hargrave.
That is what she said many kindergarteners are missing when it is time for back to school. She said seventh graders are often missing an additional vaccine, as well.
SCS reported Friday that it has completed nearly 39,000 registrations so far this summer. More than 32,000 of those registrations are for returning students.
Online registration launched earlier this year.
Still, the total number of registrations is only a little more than a third of students.
The district is continuing to go out to events, like the Back-to-School Family Affair to get as many students ready for school as possible by day one.
“We have to just kind of go out and go to where the parents are,” Hargrave said.
For more information on SCS registration, parents may visit www.scsk12.org/registration.
SCS Student Health Clinics are also open this summer to help with immunizations. You may call 901-531-6321 for more information.
