Does School Cleanliness Affect Student Performance?

For children, school is their second home. People are more productive in a clean, fresh-smelling work environment, and kids are no different in the school environment. A clean school provides a more productive environment for all.

It may shock you to learn that the highest concentration of germs is not found in obvious places (like bathrooms) as you might think. The places where most school germs lurk need to be cleaned regularly by professional cleaning crews.

An Unsanitary School Leads to Poor Student Performance

Sick Days

Absenteeism due to illness is the biggest problem caused by school germs.  When kids miss school often, they get behind and have trouble catching up. This can lead to poor grades. Keeping the school clean is key to providing a healthy learning environment for students.

Poor Concentration

Kids may be distracted by dirty and disorganized classrooms. The dirtier and smellier the classroom, the more students will be distracted from their teachers’ lessons and lectures. Students can focus on learning when they feel clean, healthy, and safe at school.

Inferior Teacher Performance

Adults also thrive in clean, healthy, and fresh-smelling environments. Teachers are negatively affected by an unsanitary school environment. Research supports a direct correlation between school cleanliness and teachers’ performance and achievements. Teachers are also more focused and less stressed out in a clean working environment. Thus, it follows that higher teacher performance leads to more successful students.

Where are the Dirtiest Places in Schools?

NSF International discusses a CDC study which found that 22 million sick days are taken each year due to the common cold and flu. This inspired NSF microbiologists to conduct an experiment to determine where germs are most commonly found in schools.

Students come in contact with many different surfaces every day at school. These types of studies reveal what educators and school cleaning crews need to look out for to protect kids from infectious germs. The surfaces and areas schools should focus on getting cleaned are those that everyone touches but are often neglected.

These are some of the surfaces on which the most germs were found, listed from the dirtiest in descending order:

1.Water Fountain Spigots

Kids often touch the water fountain with their mouth and hands leaving behind bacteria and viruses.

2.Plastic Reusable Cafeteria Tray 

Germs tend to remain on plastic surfaces even after washing.  

3.Faucet (cold water handle) 

The finding that the cold-water handle has more germs than the hot-water handle is probably due to the fact that most students (especially young children) tend to wash their hands in cold water.

4.Faucet (hot water handle)

5.Classroom Keyboard 

Dirty hands mean dirty keyboards. Remind students to clean their hands before and after using the keyboard.

6.Toilet Seat 

Toilet seats may have highly infectious germs so instruct your kids to use seat covers.

The average student comes into contact with about 152,300 germs at school. Does it surprise you to learn that studies reveal that there are more germs found on school water fountain spigots and plastic cafeteria trays than on toilet seats? This is most likely because trays and water fountains are not cleaned regularly, while toilet seats are frequently cleaned. Also, toilet seats are smooth rather than porous, which limits the ability for germs to adhere to the surface.

How Can You Help Keep Your School Clean?

WebMD suggests donating cleaning supplies. The best way to help keep your child’s school clean is to donate cleaning supplies and bottles of hand sanitizer to their teacher. Having a steady stream of supplies will ensure that the classroom will be kept free from germs throughout the day.

Teach your kids good hygiene such as washing their hands with warm water after using the bathroom and using hand sanitizer before and after touching toys and cafeteria trays. Also, remind them not to touch or put their mouth on water fountains. This will reduce the number of germs on most surfaces.

How Do Germs Spread?

Germs can include a variety of viruses and bacteria. They can spread like wildfire through the school environment because schools are typically jammed packed with school staff and students, making it a hotbed for germs.

Students are breathing in millions of microbes that may be floating around in the air at any given time. Germs usually become airborne within tiny droplets of water when people cough or sneeze. These droplets quickly settle to the ground or other surfaces. Germs can live for long periods of time on these surfaces, just waiting for kids to pick them up. 

School cleaning services in Coral Springs 

Our team knows that we must be vigilant about regularly cleaning all the surfaces that kids touch as well as sanitizing hard-to-reach areas in schools. In Coral Springs, schools know that they can count on us to do a thorough job and keep their schools clean.

School cleaning services by All Building Cleaning Corp.

At All Building Cleaning Corp., we can help schools maintain the utmost cleanliness. We don’t just clean floors and bathrooms. Our cleaning crews will clean the dirtiest surfaces that people tend to not think about. All Building Cleaning Corp. has partnerships with top cleaning providers in the Coral Springs area.

Learn more about how we go above and beyond keeping learning germ-free for students and teachers. Speak with one of our representatives today! Visit us online. All Building Cleaning Corp. is synonymous with quality, dependability, and service. If you want your school to sparkle and provide a healthy environment, then it’s time to call us!