Baltimore City school children in need of glasses are in for a treat.

The city health department has partnered on an initiative intended to provide free glasses to all students in need but unable to afford or otherwise obtain them.

As reported in The Baltimore Sun:

Baltimore City health officials estimate that 10,000 of 62,000 students from pre-K through eighth grade need glasses, but most don’t get them.

Thousands of Baltimore students like Courtney will receive free glasses under a new program aimed at helping kids see well enough to learn. The city health department organized the initiative, which includes eye exams, along with school district leaders, the Johns Hopkins University, the nonprofit Vision to Learn and Warby Parker, the trendy eyewear retailer.

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Officials say the program is a basic health intervention that will improve the academic success and general well-being of students across the city. By law, students must undergo vision screening in school, but some families don’t follow up with eye exams or can’t afford glasses.

“It’s common sense that if you can’t see the board, you may fall back a bit every year, never to catch up,” said Dr. Leana Wen, the city health commissioner.

She said school administrators and health officials have long known about vision-related academic deficiencies among city students but struggled with how to ensure they received follow-up services once a vision problem was detected.

For more information read the full article in The Baltimore Sun.