At last week’s dedication ceremony, from left to right: Mony Iyer , senior director of strategy for OneSight, Mary Anne Stangby, GM of Sears Optical, and Marc Bellisario, CEO of Primary Health Solutions.
​
CINCINNATI, Ohio—Last week marked the dedication of OneSight’s second school-based vision center in the U.S. at Fairfield City Schools here, called The OneSight Vision Center at Fairfield School Based Health Center Presented by Sears Optical. The school-based health center is the first of its kind in a suburban community in the U.S. to provide fully integrated health care. Students, their family members and school district staff in Fairfield City Schools will have access to primary medical, dental, vision and behavioral health services at the health center.

Fairfield City Schools - a suburb of Cincinnati - consists of 10,000 students, nearly half of which live below the federal poverty line. The vision center will provide comprehensive eye exams as well as the prescribing and dispensing of glasses when necessary. The purpose of the center is to keep students in school, healthy and ready to learn. Students will receive care during the school day, without requiring parents to leave work and potentially lose wages.

“We know that 80 percent of learning is visual, yet one in four children in the United States have an undiagnosed vision problem,” said Jason Singh, OD, executive director of OneSight at the Jan. 14 ceremony. “Providing students in Fairfield with access to an eye exam and a pair of glasses is a simple solution to help students reach their full potential.”

With Sears Optical’s support as Presenting Sponsor, OneSight will provide all equipment, operational startup and training for the vision center. OneSight will also provide new eyewear for all uninsured children on an ongoing basis. “We are thrilled to support OneSight’s sustainable initiatives as presenting sponsor of the Fairfield City Schools vision center,” said Sears Optical General Manager, Mary Anne Stangby. “The fact that this vision center is extending care to families in need makes it a perfect fit for our brand, where we believe in treating everyone like family.” Sears Optical is a full service vision care provider, with over 650 locations throughout the U.S. and Canada.

OneSight, a global nonprofit 501(c)(3) sponsored and founded by Luxottica, is dedicated to providing sustainable access to a comprehensive eye exam and quality eyewear to those in need around the world.

Its initiatives in bringing access to school children began in 2012. The 2015-16 school year is the fourth year that the The OneSight Vision Center at Oyler School has been open. In that time, the vision center has providing eye exams to over 8,600 students in Cincinnati Public Schools and dispensed over 6,200 pairs of glasses. With a 72 percent glasses need rate, the vision center is provided much-needed vision care access to Cincinnati students.

The OneSight Vision Center at PS 188 Presented by LensCrafters, located in Brooklyn, is slated to open in the first half of 2016.