File: ADF

WELLNESS

The PlainvilleSchool District will provide school environments that promote and protect children’s health, well being, and their ability to learn by supporting and teaching healthy eating and physical activity.

The PlainvilleSchool District will engage students, parents, teachers, food service professionals, health professionals, and other interested community members in developing, implementing, monitoring, and reviewing district-wide nutrition and physical activities. They will strive to have qualified professionals deliver the program.

The School District will strive to provide nutrition education and physical education that fosters lifelong habits of healthy eating and physical activity for all students in every grade level.

The School District will aim to teach, encourage, and support healthy eating by students.

Child Nutrition Program:

The Child Nutrition Program shall comply with all federal, state, and local requirements, and shall be accessible to all students. Food Safety and Security guidelines shall be adhered to for all foods served in schools. The Child Nutrition Program shall aim to be financially self-supporting. Since the program is an essential educational support activity, budget neutrality or profit generation will not take precedence over the nutrition of the students.

Nutrition Education

The schools shall aim to integrate nutrition education throughout the curriculum spectrum of math, science, languages, social studies, and physical education. The schools shall assist families and the community with nutrition education and nutrition education materials. They shall promote health education to teachers, nurses, principals, staff, and the PTO. The School District will support parents’ efforts to provide a healthy diet and daily physical activity for their children.

Physical Activity

The schools will provide opportunities for all students to develop the knowledge and skills needed to become physically fit. The schools will also help students to develop an understanding of the short and long term benefits of a physically active and healthy lifestyle by encouraging students to regularly participate in physical activity.

Monitoring and Evaluation

The School Committee, with the assistance of the superintendent of schools, shall create a School Wellness Committee to help implement, monitor, review, and evaluate school nutrition and physical activity policies and to make periodic recommendations to the School Committee on revisions to said policies or to policies that pertain to other important school health issues. The School Wellness Committee shall also serve as a resource to individual schools within the

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system for implementing said policies. The School Wellness Committee shall consist of individuals from the school system and the community.

STUDENT NUTRITION EDUCATION

The PlainvilleSchool District promotes healthy schools by supporting wellness, good nutrition, and regular physical activity as a part of the total learning environment. The District supports a healthy environment where children learn and participate in positive dietary and lifestyle practices. By facilitating learning through the support and promotion of good nutrition and physical activity, schools contribute to the basic health status of children. Improved health optimizes student performance potential and ensures that no child is left behind.

Lunchroom Climate:

  • Schools will develop a lunchroom environment that offers students a safe, relaxed, and enjoyable climate.
  • Schools will provide a place where students have:
  • adequate space to eat and a pleasant surrounding
  • adequate time for meals (the American Food Service Association recommends at least 20 minutes for lunch from the time they are seated)
  • convenient access to hand-washing or hand sanitizing before meals or snacks

Timing of Meals:

  • Schools will schedule meals at appropriate times, e.g. lunch should be scheduled between 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.
  • Schools will to the extent possible schedule lunch periods to follow recess

A La Carte, Snacks, and Vending:

  • Schools will use the District Nutrition Standards as a guideline
  • The hot lunch provider will be expected to make every effort to follow the District’s Nutrition Standards when determining the items in a la carte sales
  • A la carte items that do not meet the District Nutrition Standards may be acceptable for student consumption within moderation (i.e. limit quantity sold to an individual student)
  • A la carte items that do not meet the District Nutrition Standards may be acceptable when offered on an intermittent basis.

Fundraising:

  • Each school organization will have the discretion to choose fundraising products and events
  • It is encouraged that fundraisers promote non-food and/or healthy food items or food items that are intended as special treats or gifts.
  • Schools will make every effort to ensure all fundraising projects follow the District Nutrition Standards.

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  • Schools will make every effort to ensure all fundraising projects for sale and consumption within and prior to the instructional day follow the District’s Nutrition Standards when determining the items being sold.
  • Items being sold that do not meet the District Nutrition Standards may be acceptable for student consumption within moderation (i.e. limit quantity sold to an individual student).
  • Items being sold that do not meet the District Nutrition Standards may be acceptable when offered on an intermittent basis.

Sharing of Food:

  • Schools will discourage students from sharing their food or beverage

Birthday Parties:

  • The WoodSchool will ensure that birthday celebrations that involve food will be limited to once per month to avoid frequent disruption and snacking.
  • The JacksonSchool will move toward limiting birthday celebrations that involve food to once per month by phasing in the program beginning with the 2007-2008 Kindergarten class.
  • Schools will encourage the use of non-food celebrations/recognitions for birthdays

Teacher-to-Student Incentives:

  • Schools will encourage strong consideration be given to nonfood items as part of any teacher-to-student incentive programs
  • Schools will encourage teachers who feel compelled to utilize food items as an incentive, to adhere to the District Nutritional Standards

Advertising:

  • Schools will ensure that advertising of foods or beverages in the schools will be consistent with the District Nutritional Standards

Principals/Classroom Teachers:

  • Schools will aim to encourage, teach, and support healthy eating by students
  • Schools will sponsor and participate in professional development on nutrition issues for staff
  • Schools will encourage all instructional staff to integrate nutritional themes into daily lessons when appropriate
  • The nutritional themes include but are not limited to:

*Knowledge of food guide pyramid *Healthy diet

*Healthy heart choices *Food labels

*Sources and variety of foods*Major nutrients

*Guide to a healthy diet *Multicultural influences

*Diet and disease*Serving sizes

*Understanding calories *Proper sanitation

*Healthy snacks *Identify and limit junk food

*Healthy breakfast

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Parent Nutrition Education:

  • Schools will provide nutrition education to parents in the form of handouts, postings on the District website, or presentations that focus on nutritional value and healthy lifestyles
  • Schools will send home nutritional information to parents including healthy snack ideas
  • Schools will move toward incorporating nutritional components into their newsletters
  • Schools will provide a link from the District’s web page to nutrition sites
  • Schools will offer parents the opportunity to share their health food practices with others in the community

Administration:

  • Will meet on a routine basis with the School Wellness Committee, listen to their ideas and formulate plans to implement them
  • Will sponsor Professional Development on nutrition issues for the staff
  • Will move toward funding health education classes to implement nutritional education.

DISTRICT NUTRITION STANDARDS

The PlainvilleSchool District strongly encourages the sale or distribution of nutrient dense foods for all school functions and activities. Nutrient dense foods are those foods that provide students with calories rich in the nutrient content needed to be healthy. In an effort to support the consumption of nutrient dense foods in the school setting the District has adopted the following Nutrition Standards governing the sale of food, beverage, and candy on school grounds. These standards should be used as minimal guidelines.

Food:

  • Any given food item for sale prior to the start of the school day and throughout the instructional day will have no more than 30% of its total calories derived from fat.
  • Any given food item for sale prior to the start of the school day and throughout the instructional day will have no more than 10% of its total calories derived from saturated fat.
  • Nuts and seeds are exempt from these standards because they are nutrient dense and contain high levels of monounsaturated fat. Foods high in monounsaturated fat help lower “bad” LDL cholesterol and maintain “good” HDL cholesterol.
  • It is recognized that there may be rare special occasions when the school principal may allow a school group to deviate from these guidelines.
  • Schools will encourage the consumption of nutrient dense foods, i.e. whole grains, fresh fruits, and vegetables.

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  • During the school year 2007-2008, the district will offer one vegetable and one fruit option each day and will offer three different fruits and three different vegetables over the course of a week. During the school year 2008-2009, the district will offer to the extent possible at least two vegetables and two fruit options each day and will offer five different fruits and five different vegetables over the course of a week.
  • Schools are encouraged to source fresh fruits and vegetables from local farmers when practicable.

Beverages:

  • Vending sales of soda or artificially sweetened drinks for students will not be permitted on school grounds.
  • The non-vending sale of soda or artificially sweetened drinks will not be permitted on school grounds both prior to the start of the school day and throughout the instructional day, but will be permitted at those special school events that begin after the conclusion of the instructional day.
  • Milk, water, and 100% fruit juices may be sold on school grounds both prior to and throughout the instructional day.
  • Drinking water will be available for students at meals

Candy:

  • Vending sales of candy for students will not be permitted on school grounds.
  • Non-vending sales of candy will be permitted at the conclusion of the instructional day.
  • Candy is defined as any item that has sugar (including brown sugar, corn sweetener, corn syrup, fructose, glucose {dextrose}, high-fructose corn syrup, honey, invert sugar, lactose, maltose, molasses, raw sugar, table sugar {sucrose}, syrup) listed as one of the first two ingredients.

Physical Activity and a Healthy School Environment

Recommendations for Physical Activity

  • Physical education courses should be the environment in which students learn, practice and are assessed on developmentally appropriate motor skills, social skills, and knowledge.
  • Physical activity involves bodily movement that results in an expenditure of energy of at least a moderate intensity level and for a duration sufficient to provide a significant health benefit for students.
  • Schools will contribute to providing children with the opportunity to accumulate at least 60 minutes of age appropriate physical activity on all or most days of the week (the 60 minutes also includes physical activity opportunities outside of the school environment, such as intramural sports, organized sport programs and physical movement programs including dance.)

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  • Physical activity opportunities and developmentally appropriate activities will be provided for all students.
  • Extended periods of inactivity (periods of two or more hours) are discouraged.

Recommendations for Physical Education for Children During the Normal School Day

  • A certified Physical education teacher shall teach all physical education classes.
  • All students in grades K-6 should receive physical education at present levels:
    grades K - 3: 80 minutes/6 days and grades 4-6: 90 minutes/6 days. These levels should not be lowered and any opportunity to increase these levels to the National Association for Sport and Physical Education recommended standards of 150 minutes per week should be supported.
  • Ensure that physical education classes have a teacher/student ratio comparable with those of other classes
  • Implement a sequential physical education course of study consistent with the state frameworks and national standards for physical education and with a focus on students’ development of motor skills, movement forms, and health-related fitness.
  • Ensure that students are moderately to vigorously active at least 50% of the time while participating in physical education classes.
  • Provide a physical and social environment that encourages safe and enjoyable activity for all students.
  • Schools will prohibit the use of physical activity as punishment, the withholding of participation in physical education class as punishment, or withholding the use of physical education class time to complete assignments from other classes.

Encouraging Lifetime Physical Activity

  • Schools will, to the extent possible, provide daily recess periods of at least 15 minutes for all elementary school students.
  • Schools will move toward providing physical activity breaks during classroom hours.
  • Schools shall offer after-school intramural programs and/or physical activity clubs that meet the needs and interests of all students.

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  • Schools will be encouraged to provide community access to and encourage students and community members to use the school’s physical activity facilities outside of the normal school day. School policies concerning safety will apply at all times.
  • Schools should encourage parents and community members to institute programs that support physical activity and are fitness focused (i.e. Fitness nights, bowling, hikes, fund-raising walks, etc.).
  • Schools should encourage after-school childcare programs to provide developmentally appropriate physical activity for participating children and reduce or eliminate the time spent in sedentary activities such as watching television or videos.

Recommendations for Health Education

  • Schools will move toward funding a Health Education Teacher.
  • Schools will provide sensitivity awareness and support group information to help children with health disabilities and health challenges.

EVALUATION AND MONITORING

Evaluation

The School Wellness Committee membership will include:

  • District Food Service Manager
  • Parent representative from each school level
  • Staff member representative from each school level
  • Administrative Representative, Co-Chair
  • Physical Education representative
  • School Nurse representative

The School Wellness Committee shall meet at least quarterly in order to carry out its responsibilities. The School Wellness Committee shall elect officers annually. Said officers shall ensure minutes are taken at each council meeting. Said minutes shall be forwarded to the superintendent and School Committee for their perusal.

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The School Wellness Committee shall make efforts to:

  • Encourage support for all wellness activities and nutrition guidelines from the administration and School Committee
  • Encourage School Councils and the PTO to become involved in supporting all wellness activities and nutrition guidelines
  • Encourage the Administration to sponsor Professional Development opportunities that will promote the integration of nutrition into the curriculum
  • Educate and encourage parents and staff to be concerned with the growing nutrition problems within the community

The School Wellness Committee shall develop a School Wellness Policy evaluation plan. The evaluation plan will:

  • establish criteria which will be used to judge the implementation of the wellness policy
  • establish standards of performance for the prescribed criteria
  • establish the method to be used for gathering any and all information necessary to indicate system performance

The criteria shall include, but not be limited to the following:

  • The schools will begin monitoring the BMI (Body Mass Index) of Plainville students and share the aggregate data when needed to support the development of programs promoting physical fitness and nutrition. They shall also distribute information packets to families to promote healthy living habits.
  • The schools will evaluate the nutrition lessons/units that are taught at each grade level.
  • A requirement that measurable progress (as determined by the School Wellness Committee) be made in increasing the percentage of Plainville students that are participating in physical activity and other school-based wellness activities

In order to defray the costs that may be associated with the implementation of Plainville’s wellness policy, the School Wellness Committee shall assist appropriate school department employees in researching, recommending and applying for wellness related grants that may be available through the state government, federal government, businesses, and non-profit agencies. The School Wellness Committee shall also assist the school department on the development of events designed to focus attention on school wellness issues.

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Monitoring

It shall be the responsibility of the superintendent to ensure system-wide compliance with the established nutrition and physical activity wellness policies. Within each school, the principal or his/her designee shall ensure compliance with those policies and will report on the school’s compliance status to the superintendent.

The Food Service Director shall ensure compliance with nutrition policies within school food service areas and shall periodically report on this matter to the superintendent. In addition, the school district will report the most recent USDA School Meals Initiative (SMI) review findings and any resulting changes. If the district has not received a SMI review from the state agency within the past five years, the district will request that a SMI review be scheduled as soon as possible.