At the launch of a partnership between District 23 and Brookdale Hospital, 77 students from PS 156 and IS 392 in Brownsville received free dental examinations. For some, the examinations marked their first visit to a dentist. The partnership is part of the UFT’s effort to find wraparound services for schools that need them, modeled on the services that are part of the Community Learning Schools Initiative. “A school does not have to be a Community Learning School to embrace this concept of leveraging resources in the community,” said Karen Alford, the UFT vice president for elementary schools and the point person for the initiative. While teachers brought their students for this initial screening on Nov. 19, parents will be responsible for return visits for those children who need follow-up dental care. Students from Kappa V and Mott Hall Bridges middle schools are scheduled for examinations in December and PS 165 students will have their turn in January. Some 300 students are slated to participate in these initial screenings. Plans are to add hearing and vision tests to the dental screenings.