Nutrition Promotion

Nutrition education will include lessons covering reading and using food labels, choosing healthy options, and portion control.

Nutrition education resources will be provided to parents/guardians through handouts, website links, school newsletters, and any other appropriate means available to reach parents/guardians.

Healthier food options are clearly identified on menus, lunch lines, and concessions.

Foods of minimal nutritional value, including brands and illustrations shall not be advertised or marketed at school.

Schools shall schedule mealtimes to minimize disruption by bus schedules, recess, and other special programs or events.

The school environment will reinforce the development of healthy eating habits, including offering healthy foods, health-conscious fundraising, and staff wellness support.

Students and staff will receive consistent nutrition messages throughout schools, classrooms, gymnasiums, and cafeterias.

Nutrition education is designed and implemented to help students learn nutrition-related skills, including, but not limited to, planning a healthy meal, understanding and using food labels, critically evaluating nutrition information, misinformation, and commercial food advertising.

Nutrition education is designed and implemented to help students learn how to assess their eating habits and how to set and achieve goals for improvement.

Nutrition education will reinforce lifelong balance, emphasizing the link between caloric intake (eating) and exercise in age-appropriate ways.

Physical Activity

Classroom teachers will provide short physical activity breaks between lessons or classes, as appropriate.

Teachers and other school and community personnel will not arbitrarily use physical activity (e.g., running laps, push-ups) or withhold opportunities for physical activity (e.g., recess, physical education) as punishment.

The school will provide information about physical education and other school-based physical activity opportunities before, during, and after the school day; it will also support parents’ efforts to provide their children with opportunities to be physically active outside of school.

Classroom health education will complement physical education by reinforcing the knowledge and self-management skills needed to maintain a physically active lifestyle and to reduce time spent on sedentary activities, such as watching television.

The student-teacher ratio for physical education classes will be the same as for other classes (30-1).

Students will not be removed or excused from physical education to receive instruction in other content areas.

School prohibits extended periods (i.e., periods of two or more hours) of inactivity. When activities, such as mandatory school-wide testing, make it necessary for students to remain indoors for long periods. Teachers will implement periodic breaks during which students are led to stand and be moderately active.

The school will allow and encourage walking and bicycling to school and will explore the availability of both local and federal funding to finance such improvements.

Schools shall encourage families to provide physical activities outside the regular school day, such as outdoor play at home, sports participation, and lifelong physical activities.

Parish community use of school facilities will be permitted. Senior fitness groups, adult sports groups are encouraged.

Staff-led walking programs, programs, and/or contests are utilized to encourage fitness and healthy eating. School staff members are encouraged to use fitness facilities before or after school.

After-school enrichment providers will include physical activity in their programs to the extent space and equipment allow.

Schools will schedule walking and bicycling to school events, including the promotion of International Walk to School Day, which falls on the first Wednesday of October each year, and Bike to School, which falls on the first Wednesday of May each year.

Students will be moderately to vigorously active for at least 50% of class time during most or all physical education class sessions.

Taking away recess for punishment is prohibited and enforced.

Other Activities that Promote Student Wellness

Schools will host health clinics and screenings and encourage parents to enroll their children in Medicaid or other children’s health insurance programs for which they may qualify.

Various healthy, alternative rewards are used to provide positive reinforcement for children’s behavior and academic performance.

School faculty and staff model healthy eating behaviors to students during school hours when possible.

Faculty and staff wellness programs are incorporated to build effective school health initiatives.

Students can access free, palatable drinking water during the school day.

Teachers may offer students water bottles at the student desk.

Educational presentations on health and wellness will be conducted at least twice each school year.

Other Activities that Promote Student Wellness continued.

Meals served through the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs will be appealing and attractive to children;

• be served in clean and pleasant settings;

• meet, at a minimum, nutrition requirements established by local, state, and federal statutes and regulations;

• offer a variety of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains;

• serve only low-fat (1%) and fat-free milk and nutritionally-equivalent non-dairy alternatives (as defined by USDA).

School lunch program will:

• Meet, at a minimum, nutrition requirements established by USDA for federally funded programs.

• Emphasize fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat dairy products.

• Be appealing and attractive to students.

• Be served in clean and pleasant surroundings.

• Provide students adequate time to eat (the School Nutrition Association recommends twenty minutes for lunch.)

• Provide children with adequate time to eat. (at least 20 minutes)

• Not allow soda at lunch

• Will not allow students to leave for lunch.

• Provide free/reduced lunch information to all students.

Foods or beverages, especially those that do not meet the nutrition standards for foods and drinks, should not be used exclusively for academic performance or good behavior.

School-based marketing will be consistent with nutrition education and health promotion. As such, schools will limit food and beverage marketing to promoting foods and beverages that meet the nutrition standards for meals or foods and beverages sold individually.

Description of the Evaluation Plan

Members of a school wellness committee will complete a triennial assessment and summarize the three required components: 1) compliance with the wellness policy, 2) how the wellness policy compares to model wellness policies, 3) progress made in attaining the goals of the wellness policy.

The school administrator will develop a summary report using the Healthy School Checklist every three years on school-wide compliance with the established nutrition and physical activity wellness policies.

Assessments will be repeated every three years to help review policy compliance, assess progress, and determine areas needing improvement. As part of that review, the school will review nutrition and physical activity policies; provide an environment that supports healthy eating and physical activity; and adhere to nutrition and physical education policies and program elements. The schools will, as necessary, revise the wellness policies and develop work plans to facilitate their implementation.

Before the end of each school year, the wellness committee shall submit to the Superintendent and Board their report in which they describe the environment in each of the Corporation’s schools and the implementation of the wellness policy in each school and identify any weaknesses or issues that should be addressed in the current policy.

The Coordinated School Health Advisory Council will direct the evaluation of the wellness policy and implementation. This Council is responsible for the three-year assessment of each school’s compliance with the policy and its regulations. The three-year evaluation must measure the following:

• the implementation of this policy and its regulations

• the extent to which each school complies with the policy

• the extent this policy compares to other model school wellness policies

• progress made in attaining the goals of the wellness policy Policy and regulation language will be assessed each year and revised as needed.

Progress reports should be shared with the public using the following communication channels: The Message, school newsletter, website, School Messenger, and other forms of communication.

Progress reports ensure transparency by including the wellness policy's web address, a description of each school’s activities and progress toward meeting the wellness goals, contact details for committee leadership, and information on how to join the committee.

The Superintendent shall distribute information at the beginning of the school year to families of school children, include information in the student handbook, and post the wellness policy on the Corporation’s website.

The Superintendent shall also be responsible for informing the public, including parents, students, and community members, of the content and implementation of this policy.