Governor DeWine, First Lady Fran DeWine, health partners, and district administrators cutting the ribbon to the new health and innovation center.
Fairfield Local School District held a ribbon cutting ceremony on Monday, November 10 to celebrate the opening of a school-based health clinic and Innovation Learning Lab. The event took place on the district’s K through 12 campus and was attended by Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, First Lady Fran DeWine, and representatives from Highland Health Providers, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, and the Appalachian Children’s Coalition.
The project was made possible through more than three million dollars in funding awarded by the Appalachian Community Grant Program. The grant was part of Governor DeWine’s Appalachian Children’s Health Initiative, which has invested over sixty-four million dollars across twenty counties to support school-based health clinics and healthcare-focused workforce development programs.
Construction began in late February of this year. The new clinic, operated in partnership with Highland Health Providers, will offer primary care services to students, staff, and the broader Leesburg community. By placing the clinic directly on campus, the district aims to reduce barriers to healthcare and improve attendance by making services more accessible.
Governor DeWine emphasized that the funding came from one-time federal sources and explained that local communities were given the opportunity to decide how to use the money. He noted that school-based clinics are often busy and trusted by families, and that placing them inside schools helps students stay in class while also serving the surrounding community.
Governor DeWine speaking at the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The Innovation Learning Lab, also supported by the same grant, is designed to help students explore career paths and build skills that connect classroom learning to future opportunities. The lab will serve as a space for hands-on experiences in workforce development and technology.
The Appalachian Children’s Health Initiative has funded twenty-eight projects expected to impact more than sixty-one thousand students and over three hundred seventy-five thousand residents. It is part of the larger Appalachian Community Grant Program, which has committed five hundred million dollars to strengthen Ohio’s thirty-two Appalachian counties.
Fairfield Local’s ribbon cutting marked the sixth such ceremony in recent years, reflecting the district’s continued investment in student wellness and educational innovation.