August 27, 2026

🏫 Back to School, Back to Germs — and a Few fun Things You’ll Want to Know

School is back, and that means more than new backpacks and routines! In this edition of Growing Together, we’re sharing what’s happening around Pediatric Partners—from our team’s Year of Balance to tips for staying healthy during cold and flu season, important appointment reminders, and upcoming opportunities for flu vaccines and heart screening.

Here’s what’s inside:

How we're supporting a Year of Balance for our employees
We're planning our Fall Flu Vaccine Clinics - learn about them and other seasonal vaccines here
No one wants to wait at the doctor's office - here's how you can help us stay on schedule
Learn what parents need to know about back to school germs this sick season, with a highlight on Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease
The next heart screening is nearly full, but you might find a spot or at least see the fun video staff put together about myths and facts of heart exams here
Learn to support learning and behavioral challenges at ADHDKC Events - all are free and open to the public and no diagnosis is required, just an interest to learn. Dr. Stuppy leads the group for middle and high schoolers and is co-host on their podcast. She loves to welcome new and familiar faces.

This newsletter is for you, so I’d love to know what you want to see next. If there’s a topic you’ve been wondering about, or something you’d like explained more clearly, let me know. Your suggestions guide future editions and keep me inspired when I’m staring at a blank page. Use the button to let us know what you want to read about in future editions of this blog.

💙 The Year of Balance: Taking Care of the People Who Take Care of You

Taking care of children is rewarding, but it can also be hard work. The same is true for the people who care for your children every day at Pediatric Partners.

We believe that taking care of our staff is an important part of taking care of our patients. When our team has opportunities to recharge, learn, spend time with the people they love, pursue interests outside of work, and plan for their future, they can come to work with a healthier mindset and be better prepared to care for your family.

From Mental Health to Balance

Last year, our focus was Mental Health. This year, we're building on that foundation with our 2026 Year of Balance: At Work, At Home, In the Future, and Of Self.

We're supporting our staff in a number of ways throughout the year, including:

Small team-building activities and opportunities to have fun together
Recognition awards celebrating teamwork and positivity
Balance Talks on topics such as budgeting, retirement, and stress management
A Ted Lasso watch club
Mid-year rewards and opportunities to recharge outside of work

💵 Finding our Own Balance

This year as part of our Year of Balance, staff members are given money to spend on their own personal balance. Each person gets to decide what balance means for them and how they want to use their money.

That might mean investing in professional growth through continuing education, conferences, books, or courses. It might mean taking a cooking, art, or photography class, going to a concert or sporting event, or spending time on a hobby. It could be massage, yoga, fitness, counseling, meditation, or another form of self-care.

There isn't one definition of balance.

What helps one person recharge may be completely different from what helps someone else.

👀 See What Our Team Is Doing!

This week we'll focus on two staff and what they're doing with their Year of Balance money. We'll learn about others over the next few months until the end of the year.

Over the next few months we'll introduce you to a few members of our team and share how they're using their balance funds.

You'll get a little glimpse of the people you know from the office outside of their Pediatric Partners roles—what they're learning, doing, creating, enjoying, or pursuing this year.

We hope you'll enjoy getting to know our team in a different way!

❤️ And Balance Isn't Just for Our Staff

Our Year of Balance may have started as an initiative to support our employees, but we hope the idea extends well beyond our office.

We want you to find your balance, too.

For parents, that might mean making time for something you enjoy, taking care of your physical or mental health, connecting with friends, learning something new, or simply giving yourself permission to rest.

For kids and teens, balance might mean making room for sleep, movement, friendships, hobbies, family time, school, and downtime—not just filling every minute with activities and responsibilities.

And for families, it can mean finding ways to care for everyone, including the adults who spend so much time caring for everyone else.

We're grateful to have a team that works hard to care for your children—and we're committed to helping them care for themselves along the way.

Here's to a healthier, happier, more balanced year—for our staff, our patients, and all of our families.

Please help us stay on schedule

We know life with kids is busy, and we appreciate everything families do to prepare for appointments. At the same time, being on time and completing the Phreesia check-in before your visit makes a big difference for everyone.

When check-in isn't completed ahead of time, our staff may need to spend additional time getting forms and surveys completed when you arrive. When a family arrives late or isn't able to complete the necessary check-in, it can put the entire schedule behind. That affects your child's visit, our staff, and the families who are scheduled after you.

This is especially important for well visits and routine follow-up visits. When an appointment is missed, we need to find another appointment for your child. That can mean using two appointment slots instead of one—the missed appointment and the new appointment—which makes it harder for all of our patients to get timely care.

A few important reminders

Your Phreesia text is a reminder, not the only way to know when your appointment is scheduled.
Please review the date, time, and office location in the message when you receive it.
Complete all requested Phreesia forms and surveys before arriving whenever possible.
If you don't receive the text, please check your spam/blocked messages and your patient portal. If you do not find it, call the office to verify that we have the correct number on file.
Please arrive on time for your appointment with check in complete.
Missed appointments and appointments canceled with less than 24 hours' notice may be subject to a no-show fee.
After 3 missed appointments for a family in a calendar year, the family may be subject to dismissal from the practice.

We truly appreciate your help.

Our staff is working hard every day to keep appointments running on time and make sure every child gets the attention they need. Taking a few minutes to complete your Phreesia check-in and double-check your appointment details helps us do that—and helps us keep appointment availability open for all of our patients.

📱 Please Don't Miss Your Phreesia Check-In!

Before your visit, you should receive a text message from Phreesia with a link to complete your check-in. This may include several questionnaires and health surveys that are important for your child's care.

Please complete the check-in before arriving at the office to not only save time in the waiting room but also so you have time to contemplate the answers about your child that you are unsure of. This is especially helpful for the developmental questions that help us assess your young child at well visits.

The Phreesia message also includes your child's appointment date, time, and office location, so please take a moment to review that information carefully. If you have a conflict, please let us know more than 24 hours in advance to avoid a no-show fee.

What if I don't receive the text?

If you aren't receiving Phreesia messages, they may have been filtered as spam or the number may have been blocked on your phone.

If the Phreesia messages are marked as spam, try these steps or use the buttons below for more information on managing your messages:

🍎 iPhone

Open the Messages app and check Filters → Spam. Apple says messages that are incorrectly identified as spam can be marked Not Spam and moved back to your regular messages.
Check whether the Phreesia number has been blocked: Settings → Privacy & Security → Blocked Contacts. If you find the number there, remove it from the blocked list.
If you previously reported Phreesia as spam, make sure future messages aren't being filtered.

🤖 Android / Google

Open Google Messages.
Tap your profile picture → Spam & blocked.
If you see a Phreesia message there, select the conversation and tap Unblock. Google says this removes the spam report and returns the conversation to your regular messages.

This is a good reminder to talk with your adolescents about staying safe. Chlamydia is common in our community, which is why we routinely screen females over age 15 at well visits. Every year, we find and treat several positive cases, but prevention is still best. Don't assume your child will never be at risk. Open conversations without judgement about how to stay safe can be helpful.

As the risk of cryptosporidiosis winds down, it's still a good time to reinforce the basics: rinse fresh produce, cook food thoroughly, and wash your hands before preparing food and before eating.

And now that school is starting, we're entering the season of more colds, coughs, and other common childhood illnesses.

Pictures of a hand and feet with blisters and a child showing their tongue. Title reads hand, foot, and mouth disease - sometimes also legs and buttocks are affected with the rash. Next to the child it reads this cut kids is too happy to have blisters in the mouth. They hurt but are hard to see.

One of these common infections is hand, foot, and mouth disease. Hand, foot, and mouth disease causes a rash of the hands and feet - often extending up the legs to the buttocks. Many kids also get painful blisters in their mouth on their lips, tongue, and palate. Fever and poor feeding are common with hand, foot, and mouth. Pain and fever control are important to help kids eat and sleep comfortably. Kids should stay home from daycare and school until their fever is gone for at least 24 hours. They are most likely to pass the virus to others during the first 7 days when fever, sore throat, and rashes or blisters are active, but they can be contagious for a day or two before they even feel sick and the virus can live in saliva and mucus for up to 3 weeks. The virus can stay in the stool for months after the infection seems to be gone, so good handwashing after using the bathroom or changing diapers is important.

Prevent Illness With These Tips

Taking time to clean frequently touched surfaces, washing hands, immunizing against seasonal infections, opening windows for fresh air, running HEPA filters, and wearing a mask when around those who are sick, can help prevent spread. It also helps to get sufficient sleep, eat healthy, and exercise regularly to help keep your immune system in shape. The more layers of protection you use, the better they work!

Manage Symptoms of Infections

If your child is feeling under the weather, visit our “Are You Sick?” page for information about common illnesses, home care, and when to call us. You'll always find it under Resources in the menu on our home page — or use the button below to go directly there.

Another MyHeartCheck Screening is coming!

Many electrical and structural heart conditions don't cause symptoms and may not be detected during a routine sports physical.

My HeartCheck provides a comprehensive screening—including blood pressure, a 12-lead ECG, an echocardiogram, and review by a pediatric cardiologist—to help identify conditions that might otherwise go unnoticed.

We’re hosting a session on Thursday, September 10, and it’s open to anyone ages 8–25, but spots are quickly filling. If you miss this session, there are more to come. Watch our Facebook page and this blog for announcements.

Each screening includes:

• Echocardiogram (cardiac ultrasound)

• EKG

• Blood pressure screening

• Health + family history review

Results read by a pediatric cardiologist and shared with families and their physicians.

The visit takes about 30 minutes and costs $179. Scholarships are available to help families access this important heart health check.

Learn more or schedule your appointment at MyHeartCheck.org

Seasonal Vaccine Season Is Coming!

We are planning several opportunities for your children to get their flu vaccines this fall. At this time all plans discussed are preliminary and will depend on receiving vaccines. Please refrain from calling about these vaccines. All information will be shared on our website as soon as details are known. Staff will not have more information and calls take their time away from helping those who need scheduling help or medical care.

If vaccine supply is available as expected, we will begin administering flu vaccines on September 1. We do not anticipate any shortages or delays but do not receive much advance notice of when it ships so cannot give specific details yet.

The flu vaccine is recommended for everyone 6 months of age and older before Halloween. Two doses are recommended for infants and children under 9 years of age who have not yet had a flu vaccine.

We will offer these seasonal vaccines:

💉 Injectable flu vaccine for children 6 months and older at scheduled visits and during vaccine clinics

👃 Nasal spray (FluMist) for children over 2 years of age at scheduled visits and during vaccine clinics

💉 COVID vaccine for children 6 months to 12 years at scheduled visits

💉 RSV vaccine for newborns through 8 months of age and high risk older infants at regularly scheduled visits and nurse visits

Scheduling for all flu vaccine clinics will be available through the portal as each is confirmed.

🚗 Drive-Through Flu vaccine Clinics

We're bringing back our popular drive-through flu clinics at our Overland Park office! These will be offered on four Sunday mornings in September and October. Specific details are pending arrival of the vaccines.

Drive-through tip: Dress your child so an arm or leg is easily accessible without removing clothing. Children will remain buckled in their car seats during the clinic.

🏥 In-Office Flu vaccine Clinics

We are planning to have our first in-office flu clinics at both our Overland Park and Olathe offices on Thursday, September 17.

More clinics will be announced as the season progresses.

📱 Please Use the Patient Portal to schedule vaccine clinics

Our flu vaccine clinics tend to fill up quickly, so we encourage families to sign up through the patient portal when appointments become available.

Don't worry if you can't get an appointment at one of the first clinics! We will have additional opportunities to get your child vaccinated throughout the season.

Your child can also receive their flu vaccine:

At their well visit
During a sick visit, as long as they aren't too sick to receive the vaccine
During a sibling's appointment - please request to check them in for a flu vaccine when checking the sibling in for their visit
At additional flu clinics as they become available

If your child is overdue for a well visit, you will not be able to schedule a flu vaccine clinic appointment. Instead, schedule the well visit and we can give the flu vaccine during that appointment. This gets them up-to-date on their annual check up and vaccinated - a two-in-one bonus!

Clinic dates will be announced through portal messaging. If you've opted out of these messages or missed the announcement, you can log into the portal to search for available flu clinic appointments.

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 What About Parents and Siblings?

Parents and siblings may also be able to receive a flu vaccine while accompanying a patient at an office visit, as long as they are eligible and we have vaccine available.

If you would like a family member vaccinated during the visit, Phreesia check-in must be completed so that the flu screening questions and vaccine consent are completed.

A Note About Vaccine Supply

We have separate vaccine supplies for patients with commercial insurance and those who qualify for the Vaccines for Children (VFC) program.

VFC vaccines are available for eligible patients who have Medicaid or who are uninsured. These vaccines are the same quality as the vaccines we purchase with private funds—the difference is simply how the vaccine is supplied to our office.

Because VFC and private vaccine supplies cannot be shared, VFC vaccines are not available at our mass flu clinics because of our limited supply. If you have questions about where your child can receive a VFC vaccine, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment provides a list of other VFC providers.

Important: Flu Clinics Are for Flu Vaccines Only

Our flu clinics are specifically for influenza vaccination. If your child needs another vaccine, please call the office to schedule an appointment. We can give the flu vaccine at that visit as well, which saves you a trip for two separate vaccine visits and leaves a spot open in the flu vaccine clinics for someone else.

What About COVID Vaccines?

We will have COVID-19 vaccines available for patients 6 months through 11 years of age. Children 12 years and up can be vaccinated at pharmacies or the local health department.

What About RSV Vaccines?

RSV is one of the most common causes of childhood respiratory illness and results in annual outbreaks of respiratory illnesses in all age groups. It is especially dangerous for infants.

Products are now available to protect the newborn through passive immunization when given during late pregnancy or to the baby during RSV season if the immunization was not given more than two weeks prior to delivery.

Beyfortis will be available to eligible patients at their regularly scheduled visits and as scheduled nurse visits for those eligible without an upcoming appointment starting October 1st.

Learn About Upcoming Free Community Events from Our Local CHADD Chapter

Founded in 2012, ADHDKC is Kansas City’s Award Winning Non-Profit CHADD Chapter. ADHDKC provides support for thousands of area families thriving with ADHD and related conditions. Every month ADHDKC sponsors events online and around the KC Metro to help parents, adults, and adolescents learn how to regulate emotions, better manage executive functioning, and more.

Since ADHD affects about one in 9 kids, we know many of you live with the challenges of having ADHD in the home. The good news is that you can learn to better support your kids. ADHDKC offers monthly events for parents, adults, and teens to help you learn to thrive with ADHD.

Dr Stuppy always likes to see new faces in the group for middle and high schoolers that she leads each month. They meet the first Tuesday of the month at 5:30 pm online for an interactive learning session that motivates youth to take control of their lives. A diagnosis of ADHD is not needed to join us. In September we're talking about SLEEP!

All ADHDKC Events are free and open to the public. No diagnosis is required! You just need an interest in the topic to join us. Feel free to share this with friends and family who would benefit.

< Older Post

Backpacks, Bugs & Balance: What’s New at Pediatric Partners