ABOUT OUR
School Curriculum
The My One-of-a-Kind Body curriculum is an evidence-informed, classroom-ready program designed to help upper-elementary students build body literacy, self-respect, and emotional resilience in a developmentally appropriate way. Developed in collaboration with the American School Health Association, the curriculum centers health-based—not weight-based—learning and gives students the language and skills to understand their bodies, navigate body image pressures, and treat themselves and others with care.
The program is designed to reduce body-based teasing and bullying and support more positive peer interactions, key factors in improving student engagement and attendance. The curriculum includes eight engaging videos, standards-aligned lesson plans, and a teacher book club guide to support meaningful classroom discussion and reflection around My One-of-a-Kind Body. Aligned with Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) standards for 5th grade, the curriculum supports core competencies such as self-awareness, social awareness, and responsible decision-making—skills that research links to stronger school connectedness and more consistent attendance.
To support successful implementation and sustainability, the curriculum includes an educator training session led by Dr. Whitney Casares, as well as an optional parent training session, helping schools and organizations reinforce consistent, supportive messaging across classrooms, homes, and the broader community.
Addressing ABSENTEEISM BY
REDUCING BULLYING
Chronic absenteeism is often treated as a logistics problem—transportation, family engagement, motivation. For many students, though, the real reason they stop coming to school is simple and heartbreaking: school no longer feels safe for them. Body-based bullying—targeting students for their size, ability, race, puberty, gender expression, clothing, or medical needs—is a widespread yet often under-recognized factor in school avoidance. These experiences don’t hurt kids’ feelings and they also shape their nervous systems. They fuel anxiety, somatic symptoms, and school refusal. Over time, students learn that staying home feels safer than being seen.
Dr. Whitney uses the core principles of My One-of-a-Kind Body to show schools how to move beyond reactive discipline toward preventive, culture-shifting practices that reduce bullying and increase attendance. She reframes bullying as a public health issue—one that directly affects learning, behavior, and long-term wellbeing—and demonstrates how everyday language, classroom norms, and adult modeling quietly determine whether students feel protected or exposed.
Educators and administrators will have the practical, developmentally appropriate strategies they need to interrupt body bullying in real time, strengthen student belonging across differences, and create classrooms where students don’t have to shrink, hide, or brace themselves just to participate.
Take a Sneak Peek:
WHITNEY CASARES, MD
CEO AND FOUNDER
Whitney Casares, MD, MPH, FAAP, is a practicing board-certified pediatrician, author, and founder of Modern Mommy Doc and Raising Body-Confident Kids. Through her clinical expertise and lived experience as a mom, she helps families raise emotionally and physically healthy kids without falling into the traps of perfectionism or pressure.
Her most recent book, My One-of-a-Kind Body, gives children a science-backed, empowering introduction to how their bodies work and why every body is worthy of care and respect. It's part of her larger mission to help families move beyond shame and unrealistic expectations toward real health, compassion, and confidence.
Dr. Whitney is also the author of Doing It All and The Working Mom Blueprint, and is a nationally recognized voice on pediatric health, maternal well-being, and practical parenting strategies. Her expertise spans the public health, direct patient care, and media worlds. Her work has been featured by outlets like The New York Times, Forbes, and Fortune.
She holds a Masters of Public Health in Maternal and Child Health from The University of California, Berkeley, and a Journalism degree from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, and a Doctorate in Medicine from the University of Vermont. She completed her pediatric residency at Stanford University.
Dr. Whitney sees patients from across the United States as a Maven Clinic provider. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband and two daughters.