Health education is a required academic subject for students in all grades. In this class, students learn how to take care of their minds, their bodies, and their relationships with others. They learn the concepts and skills they need to be healthy for life, including:
- social and emotional skills
- how to set goals for life and health
- how to find and use health services
- good communication and relationship skills
- how to set boundaries and resist negative social pressure
Under NY State law:
- All students in grades kindergarten – 12 must have health education as part of their education.
- All students must have lessons on mental health.
- All students must have lessons on HIV and AIDS prevention, every year.
- Students in grades kindergarten – 8 must have lessons on child sexual abuse prevention.
Health Education Topics
As in any other school subject, each year students learn skills that build on the last year’s lessons. In health class, your child will have lessons on:
- Mental, emotional, and social health, including how to prevent bullying
- Nutrition and physical activity
- Personal health and safety
- Growth, development, and identity
- Alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use prevention
- How to prevent disease and illness, including HIV and AIDS
Sexual Health Education
We require all students in grades 6-12 to have sexual health education as part of their Health Education lessons. We do not require a separate “sex ed” course in any grade.
Sexual health education must be:
- age-appropriate
- skills-based
- medically accurate
Your school will send you a letter before sexual health education lessons begin in your child’s health class. You may ask that the school not give lessons to your child about birth control and about how to prevent HIV and sexually transmitted infections. The school will let you know about this opt-out process.
Summary of Requirements
You can find complete requirements and information about the curriculum for each grade level on the Health Education Requirements page.
Elementary School
- Grade K-5 students must have Health Education every year.
- Mental health education topics are part of the health course.
- Grade K-6 students must have five HIV lessons per year.
Middle School
- Middle School students must have one semester of daily Health Education.
- Sexual health and mental health education topics are part of the health course.
- Grade 6 students must have five HIV lessons per year.
- Grades 7 – 8 students must have six HIV lessons per year.
High School
- High school students must have one semester of daily Health Education.
- Sexual health and mental health education topics are part of the health course.
- Students must have six HIV lessons per year.
- All high school students must earn one credit in Health Education to graduate.
Health Education at Your School
On our InfoHub Health Data page, you can find information about your school’s Health Education programs last year, such as:
- How many students were scheduled to have Health Education
- How many health teachers the school has
- How many high school graduates met the health requirement (high schools)
Condom Availability Program
All high schools must have a Condom Availability Program. Under this program, schools must provide a space where students in grades 9-12 can get free condoms, health information, and health referrals from trained staff. You may ask the school not to provide your student with condoms, but they can still receive information and referrals to health services.
Visit the Condom Availability Program page.
Family Resources
The following resources and letters are for parents and families to reference so that they know what information they should receive from their child's school. The letters are for informational purposes only. Schools will send letters to parents and guardians on official letterhead.
Sexual Health Education Parent Notification Letter
Middle and high schools must send each parent/guardian a notification letter, signed by the Chancellor, prior to their child receiving sexual health lessons (including HIV lessons) in their Health Education class. Sexual health education parent notification letters apply only to students in grades 6-12.
HIV Education Parent Notification Letters
Schools must send each parent/guardian a notification letter, signed by the principal, prior to their child receiving HIV lessons. In grade 6-12 health classes, parents/guardians will only receive the sexual health education letter (which includes HIV lessons).
HIV Lesson Overviews for Parents
These overviews provide parents and families with a summary of the HIV lessons their student will have. Lessons include basic concepts and skills that students will need for future HIV prevention as well as for lifelong health.
In grades 7-12, there are some lessons that teach about methods of HIV prevention, like birth control and condoms. Parents can excuse their child from these lessons by writing a letter to the principal. You can learn which lessons are “opt-out” lessons in the overviews below.
Condom Availability Program Parent/Guardian Notification Letters
This sample parent letter informs parents/guardians of new students in grades 9-12 about the Condom Availability Program.