Positive mental health and well-being for school-aged children have become key areas of research, with studies that show school climate and physical activity as being potentially modifiable correlates of these outcomes. As such, the purpose of this study was to examine the role school climate and physical activity play in the well-being and emotional problems of younger (elementary) and older (secondary) students. Using data obtained from the 2009/2010 administration of the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey, this study plotted the combined and independent roles of school climate and physical activity in the perceived emotional well-being and emotional problems of adolescents across Canada (N = *26,000 students, Grades 6-10). We ran a series of regressions to assess both the independent and combined influences of physical activity and school climate on (1) emotional well-being and (2) emotional problems. Our findings suggest that (1) there is no significant effect of grade, (2) for emotional well-being, both physical activity and school climate contribute significantly and relatively equally and independently, (3) for emotional problems, physical activity and school climate have independent but differential contributions, (4) physical activity and school climate are more predictive of emotional well-being than of emotional problems. In conclusion, school climate and physical activity are potentially modifiable factors for school settings and could potentially be targeted to facilitate emotional well-being and reduce emotional problems in young people.

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For educators to maximally support students with chronic health needs (CHNs), they must have an understanding of self-care and how to promote it. Self-care is a complex learned behavior that emerges from and develops through family, health, and educational support networks (Vallis, Higgens-Bowser, Scott, Murray, & Edwards, 2004). It encompasses the actions people with CHNs take to maintain their life, health, and own well-being (Orem, 2001). An essential part of school-aged children's self-care involves assistance with the administration of medical procedures, including practice with life-sustaining technologies, medicine intake, and logging of tests results or observed health behaviors (Jackson, 2013), as well as the socio-emotional support from parents, peers, and school personnel needed to manage the psychosocial aspects of living with particular health conditions (Richard & Shea, 2011). Children who learn to enact these self-care behaviors in their everyday lives have improved academic performance and enjoy a higher likelihood of social inclusion (Mukherjee, Lightfoot, & Sloper, 2000). Approximately 30% of elementary and secondary school-aged children in Canada have at least one chronic health condition (CHC), with asthma, allergies, and diabetes being among the most commonly reported subtypes (McDougall et al., 2004). It is estimated that between 3% and 30% of the pediatric population with CHCs worldwide have associated limitations in cognitive, physical, and/or psychosocial development (Shiu, 2004). Accordingly, general and special education teachers are uniquely positioned to address students' CHNs as a means of promoting these students' academic achievement and well-being, with the promotion of self-care a critical aspect of this responsibility (Nabors, Little, Akin-Little, & Iobst, 2008).