Beyond keeping up: Running a modern school health office
School nursing leaves little room for hesitation. Students keep coming, questions need answers, and information has to be accurate the first time.
While earning his RN, Kevin reached out to the school nurse at his children’s school, Chattanooga Christian School. That conversation led to shadowing, then a part-time role while he finished school, and soon after, a full-time position. Not long after graduating, Kevin was promoted to Director of Health Services.
Today, Kevin oversees health services for a school of roughly 1,500 students. He works alongside another full-time registered nurse, forming a tight-knit, collaborative team.
“There are two of us that work full time now. We’re both registered nurses, so we both have the ability to assess and treat accordingly.”
Their workflow is intentionally shared.
“We have a great working relationship. It’s pretty team-oriented. None of us feel like we’re stepping on the other person’s toes or taking more kids or less kids. We share it pretty evenly.”
That kind of balance is crucial in a clinic where students walk in nonstop throughout the day. Both nurses need instant access to the same information to support one another seamlessly.
When Kevin first joined Chattanooga Christian, the school had been using the same health platform for several years.
“It was the only thing I knew coming into school nursing.”
While Kevin learned the platform quickly, its limitations surfaced just as fast.
“It wasn’t very user-friendly, and from what I heard, customer service wasn’t very responsive.”
Soon after, the school faced a decision to replace their platform. Rather than rushing into a replacement, Kevin and the team took the opportunity to reassess their needs and find a platform that could meet them more effectively.
“Through that process, we realized August Schools was the change we were gonna make.”
In a fast-moving health office, Kevin’s first challenge is staying oriented as students come in back-to-back and situations overlap. With August, he can keep multiple students in view at once and shift between them as the day unfolds.
“The multitasking is huge. We can pull up 10 kids at once, because it’s not one kid at a time, it’s whoever walks in.”
When Kevin is moving between students, he needs to have the right information immediately. He needs to confirm he’s looking at the correct student and quickly understand their context before making decisions. In August, key details are visible without digging.
“We can see medications, previous history, parent info.”
Student photos help remove any doubt in a large school environment.
“Pictures on the student card help us confirm the right student. We have 1,500 students, so that’s huge.”
“Using the templates in August helps us be better nurses,” Kevin said.
Those templates give the nursing team a clear place to start after each visit. Instead of building notes from scratch, they can document care using a consistent structure that fits the pace of the clinic. This helps the nursing team capture the right information every time and focus on students instead of the mechanics of charting.
In school health, care doesn’t end when a student leaves the office. Teachers need to know what happened before a student returns to class, and parents expect timely communication. Kevin needs a way to share information quickly without duplicating work or losing track of conversations.
With August, communication stays connected to the student and visible to the whole health team.
“Messaging within August to communicate with teachers and parents is huge. Everything is saved in the student’s profile and shared with the other nurse.”
Instead of switching between systems,
“messaging now feels more like a quick text.”
Kevin also values being able to include parents and teachers in the same conversation.
“Before the kid is back in class, everyone is on the same page.”
Parents have noticed the difference as well.
“Parents like the messaging, especially that it goes to their phone.”
That immediacy helps reduce follow-up questions and confusion.
“It creates almost an instantaneous conversation and keeps everything confined to the health platform, which is really helpful.”
Physicals, doctor’s notes, and follow-up paperwork arrive constantly in a school health office. They are often tied to time-sensitive questions from parents or teachers. Kevin and the nursing team need to know what’s been submitted, what’s still missing, and where to find it.
With August, document collection is more straightforward.
“Collecting and sharing documents like physicals and doctor’s notes has been easier,” Kevin shared.
Documents live alongside student records and communication, making it clear what information is available at any given moment.
Beyond features, what’s made the biggest impression on Kevin is the support behind the product.
“That’s one of the huge things we like about August Schools, the responsiveness.”
He’s seen firsthand how user feedback shapes the platform.
“Even today we were talking about the new feature of sharing an encounter with a parent that just rolled out. That came from client feedback, which is huge.”
Support feels personal, not transactional.
“The personal videos like, ‘Hey Kevin and Amy, here’s where you need to go, hope you’re having a great day.’ Just unbelievable customer service.”
As Kevin put it,
“You’re not just acknowledging the question, you’re coming back with a solution.”
Having a former school nurse involved in development has made the transition smoother.
“Having Laura, a school nurse on August’s staff, has helped us tremendously with the transition. Compared to our previous platform, it’s night and day.”
Kevin doesn’t hesitate when others ask about August.
“I already have recommended August. I’ve even joined calls with other schools considering the switch. Our experience has been nothing but great.”
For Kevin, that enthusiasm comes from how naturally the platform fits into his workday and supports the way he wants to care for students.
With August Schools, he’s found tools that reinforce his confidence as a leader, strengthen collaboration in the health office, and give him more time to focus on direct student care.
“It’s been great,” Kevin said. “Y’all are friendly, receptive to feedback, and committed to seeing things through.”