There are few things more important to a child’s education than sight. Whether it’s the capacity to see the board, textbooks or simply a friend’s facial expressions, it’s practically impossible to learn when everything is blurry. And while this may seem self-evident, for many children in Baltimore, clear sight is an unattainable luxury due to the high costs of optometrist appointments and eyeglasses.
To help mitigate this problem, Johns Hopkins, the Baltimore City Public School System, the Baltimore City Health Department, eyewear retailer Warby Parker and nonprofit Vision to Learn co-created Vision for Baltimore, an initiative to provide vision screening and correction for city kids in elementary and middle school.
The program hopes that with free vision tests and eyeglasses, low-income students will have more of an opportunity for success. To evaluate the effectiveness of the initiative, a Johns Hopkins research team will study its impact on the academic performance of affected students.
While the long-term effects remain to be seen, this is certainly a great step toward the success and wellness of city students.
