Thank You Cameron and John Randolph Foundations

As we march on to our 100,000th student served we’re taking a look back at some of the most pivotal moments in expanding technology based comprehensive children’s vision programs in Virginia.  As Conexus was experiencing tremendous success in the Pre-K  W.H.E.E.L.S program, our thoughts quickly turned to our partners in the public schools.

Conexus had long supported the vision screening needs in Virginia’s public schools and the idea of introducing technology to improve the process was exciting.  In 2012 the Cameron and John Randolph Foundations jointly funded the first pilot initiative to test the Conexus technology based comprehensive children’s vision program in the public schools.  Over the period of 45 days Conexus delivered the program to over 4,500 students in 20 schools in 6 school divisions across the tri-cities region, finding 27% of students with a potential vision problem.  The program delivery was followed by a focus group of nurse participants for program evaluation and critique. 

We learned two important lessons through this pilot: 1.  Technology based comprehensive children’s vision programming could be successful in the public school population and 2.  It would have a tremendous impact on effectiveness and efficiencies for schools and students.

We want to offer our thanks to both the Cameron and John Randolph Foundation for seeing the potential of using our experience gained from the W.H.E.E.L.S. program to grow and expand services to an even larger population.  Virginia mandates the school based vision screening of more than 360,000 students annually.  Cameron and John Randolph recognized the potential for not only their students but also saw the value in supporting the development of a program that could have statewide ramifications.
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This pilot effectively launched Conexus programming into the public schools statewide and we are grateful for the vision of these two funders.