PORTLAND — Shortly after her eye exam, 8-year-old Bwakafa Heureuse offered advice to other kids about what to expect.

“It’s not really scary,” she said. “You get to see a picture and it’s not scary.”

Bwakafa was one of 40 third, fourth and fifth graders in the Portland Public Schools who visited a large recreational vehicle-sized van in the school parking lot this week to see if she needed glasses.

The Foundation for Portland Public Schools raised the funds needed to bring Boston-based 20/20 Onsite to Reiche Community School, Gerald E. Talbot Community School and Portland Adult Education.

In addition to their eye exam, the students will get at least one free pair of prescription eyeglasses.

It’s a huge need for local schools, said Tina Veilleux, school nurse coordinator for Portland Public Schools. School nurses do vision screenings every year, finding hundreds of kids who need follow up and often glasses.

But getting them the help they need can be difficult, she said.

“For a long time, it’s been a real challenge for some of our families to get vision care,” she said.

The barriers include transportation, insurance and communication. Portland hosts the state’s largest school district, with nearly 6,600 students and one-third coming from homes where languages other than English are spoken, according to the district. That totals 59 languages, and more than half of all Portland students are considered economically disadvantaged.

To help address the need for vision care, the district has stitched together various programs but felt the need for something more, Veilleux said. Last spring, they approached the foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to helping Portland schools’ students and staff be more successful.

“The Foundation for Portland Public Schools exists to listen and respond with proactive solutions to strengthen learning,” Andi Summers, executive director of the foundation, said in a statement. “We believe that every student deserves a good foundation in school. The ability to see clearly is critical to being able to access learning.”

On Tuesday outside Talbot school, students bundled up for the walk across the parking lot to the large yellow van. Once inside, clinic manager Amanda McDonough walked them through an eye exam.

They visited with an optometrist too and checked out a wide range of frames on display, just like you would see at a doctor’s office.

Veilleux said nearly every child who received an exam needs glasses, and they are hoping to bring the van back in future years to serve other schools. Also, they will tap into Greater Portland Health, which recently added optometry services to help meet the need, she said.

For school nurses who deal with a wide variety of bumps, scrapes and illness every day, vision care stands out as a significant need.

“At a young age, in elementary, sometimes kids don’t even realize they are not seeing clearly,” she said. “But it really impacts their learning. When we see kids struggling and falling further and further behind sometimes being referred for special services when really, they might just need glasses.”