Johns Hopkins and its partners in Vision for Baltimore have distributed 5,000 free pairs of eyeglasses to city students, helping them see better in the classroom so they can expand their educational opportunities.

Launched in 2016 by Johns Hopkins, the nonprofit Vision To Learn and the alumni-founded eyewear retailer Warby Parker, Vision for Baltimore has provided more than 43,000 school-based exams through the Baltimore City Health Department and is well on its way to providing vision screenings for every student between pre-K and eighth grade in Baltimore City public schools—that’s roughly 60,000 kids. The Vision for Baltimore team plans to complete screenings and eye exams at all 150 elementary and middle schools in the school district in 2019.

Johns Hopkins works side by side with these partners in schools across the city, providing program support and conducting research through a collaboration between the School of Education and the Wilmer Eye Institute at the School of Medicine. To gauge the effect of Vision for Baltimore on learning, researchers will compare students’ standardized test scores before and after receiving glasses to understand the impact of school-based eye care on academic performance. The team is also working to develop strategies to reduce the rate of lost or broken eyeglasses and is conducting a cost analysis of the economic impact of expanded programs for vision screening and school-based eye care.

Photo: Glori Mahammitt (left) and her best friend, Kameran Rogers, model their Warby Parker glasses they received from Vision for Baltimore