The Vision Council Foundation Expands “See What Matters” with New Back‑to‑School Eye Health Toolkit

Wednesday, August 26 2026 | 13 h 12 min | News

The Vision Council Foundation has launched its 2026 back‑to‑school campaign, “See What Matters – Empowering Education,” encouraging families to prioritize comprehensive eye exams and healthy vision habits as students prepare to return to the classroom. The initiative expands the Foundation’s growing library of free educational resources designed to support families, schools and eyecare professionals.

This year’s campaign places particular emphasis on conditions and behaviors that can hinder learning, including digital eye strain, dry eye linked to screen use, and the rising prevalence of childhood myopia, which now affects an estimated 30% of children and adolescents in the United States.

Research from Focused inSights: Provider Approaches to Myopia Management shows that 91% of eyecare providers recommend annual myopia screening, with excessive screen time, genetics and limited outdoor activity identified as the leading risk factors.

New Toolkits for Providers, Schools, Families and Media

To support the campaign, the Vision Council Foundation has released a series of free, downloadable toolkits tailored to different audiences:

• Eyecare Providers — Printable materials and social media content to help keep eye health top‑of‑mind for patients, both in‑office and online.
• Schools and Parents — Resources to help families and educators prioritize vision health, including information on myopia, a family eye exam checklist and a postcard for school nurses to share screening results.
• Media — Background data on children’s vision health and childhood myopia, including research from The Vision Council.

These toolkits represent the second major release under the See What Matters initiative, which promotes the importance of vision health across all ages through accessible educational materials.

Eye Exams as a Back‑to‑School Essential

“Eye exams belong on every family’s back‑to‑school checklist, right alongside shopping for new clothes and school supplies,” said Ashley Mills, CEO of The Vision Council and The Vision Council Foundation. “Children deserve the best possible chance to learn and thrive in school, and that starts with making sure they go into the school year seeing their best.”

The full “See What Matters – Empowering Education” toolkit is available at: thevisioncouncilfoundation.org/see-what-matters/

Source: The Vision Council

Want to see more like this article? Click here to subscribe to our FREE print magazines and e-newsletters!