Groesbeck ISD and Indoor Air Quality
Groesbeck Independent School District (GISD), located in Central Texas, serves approximately 1,600 students across five campuses. With a strong commitment to providing a top-tier education, the district emphasizes the importance of optimal learning environments, especially for its youngest students in Kindergarten, PreK, and daycare programs.
Early education is crucial for developing social, emotional, and cognitive skills, including language development and self-regulation, which lay the foundation for future academic success. Additionally, these programs promote equity by ensuring all children have access to early learning opportunities.
GISD recognized the significant role of maintaining healthy indoor air quality in supporting early learners. By ensuring a clean, safe indoor environment, the district aimed to foster an environment where young minds can flourish, which also helps increase and sustain enrollment in these programs.
The Challenge
In 2020, like many districts across the nation, GISD invested in air purifiers that required frequent filter replacements. However, when filters became scarce due to increased supply chain demand, the devices lost effectiveness, leaving classrooms with subpar air quality.
This issue was particularly concerning in the district's early childhood classrooms and daycare, where the youngest and most vulnerable learners, along with the children of district employees, spend their days.
Children in early learning environments are known drivers of respiratory virus transmission due to frequent close contact and developing immune systems. Poor indoor air quality (IAQ) posed multiple operational and health risks:
- Increased student and staff absenteeism due to illness
- Lowered academic performance and focus
- Strained teacher and staff well-being
- Heightened transmission of respiratory viruses, including COVID-19 and influenza
The Solution
To address these challenges, GISD partnered with WellAir’s distributor, Protect | ED, a leading provider of indoor air quality solutions for educational spaces. Together, they implemented the Novaerus Protect 900, which utilizes NanoStrike™ medical-grade air disinfection technology in GISD’s early childhood classrooms and daycare facilities.
NanoStrike technology, originally developed for healthcare settings such as neonatal ICUs, eliminates airborne viruses, bacteria, and mold spores.
This innovative solution was selected for its proven efficacy in healthcare environments and adapted for use in schools to ensure air quality met the highest standards. Protect|ED has deployed WellAir's Novaerus solutions in schools across the United States, helping to protect student and staff health across a variety of educational environments.
Results
Following the installation of Novaerus Protect devices in its early childhood learning spaces, GISD experienced several positive outcomes:
- Improved Attendance: GISD saw a significant decrease in absenteeism among early childhood students. Kindergarten attendance reached 98%, aligning with GISD's goal to maintain 96% overall attendance over the next five years.
- Enhanced Learning Environment: Teachers reported that classroom odors were eliminated, contributing to a more pleasant and focused learning space.
- Staff & Parent Peace of Mind: Employees utilizing the district daycare expressed peace of mind knowing their children were breathing cleaner air.
- Employee & Volunteer Wellness: Air disinfection proved critical for GISD’s volunteer grandparent program, ensuring older adults mentoring students felt safe in the environment.
- Reduced Virus Transmission: GISD observed a marked reduction in illness transmission within school walls, helping curb outbreaks in the broader community as well.
Conclusion
The success of the Novaerus Protect 900 in Groesbeck ISD’s early childhood spaces is clear: improved attendance, enhanced wellness for students and staff, and a healthier overall learning environment.
“For the first time, Kindergarten attendance is at 98%, which is huge for October—usually the month where viruses spread.”
By creating safer environments for young students, GISD is not only protecting its current students but setting the stage for long-term academic success. As a result, the district is working with Protect|ED to explore expanding NanoStrike technology across all campuses.
“Normally my voice changes in October when the weather changes, and I haven’t lost my voice yet—and that’s a big thing. You need your voice in Kinder.”
— Shonuh Jackson, 23-year veteran educator at GISD
The results speak for themselves: clean air in schools makes a tangible difference.