The primary goals of the St. Charles R-VI School District's wellness program are to promote student
health, reduce student overweight/obesity, facilitate student learning of lifelong healthy habits and
increase student achievement. The following procedures will guide the implementation of the
district wellness program.
Nutrition Guidelines
The district designates the following nutrition guidelines, based on the Missouri Eat Smart Nutrition
Guidelines, for foods and beverages served in schools during the school day:
School Breakfasts –
School Lunches –
À La Carte Food Items –
À La Carte Beverage Items –
Food Items Sold in Vending Machines and School Stores –
Beverage Items Sold in Vending Machines and School Stores –
After-School Programs –
Rewards –
Celebrations and Parties –
Fundraisers –
Intramural Activities –
Nutrition Education
The district's nutrition education goal is to integrate sequential nutrition education with the
comprehensive health education program and, to the extent possible, the core curriculum taught at
every grade level in order to provide students with the necessary knowledge and skills to make
healthy nutrition decisions. In order to achieve the nutrition education goal, the district will:
1. Provide students at all grade levels with adequate nutrition knowledge including, but not
limited to:
► The benefits of healthy eating.
► Essential nutrients.
► Nutritional deficiencies.
► Principles of healthy weight management.
► The use and misuse of dietary supplements.
► Safe food preparation, handling and storage.
2. Provide students with nutrition-related skills that minimally include the ability to:
► Plan healthy meals.
► Understand and use food labels.
► Apply the principles of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Dietary
Guidelines for Americans (DGA) and MyPlate.
► Critically evaluate nutrition information, misinformation and commercial food
advertising.
► Assess personal eating habits, nutrition goal-setting and achievement.
3. Provide instructional activities that stress the appealing aspects of healthy eating and are
hands-on, behavior based, culturally relevant, developmentally appropriate and enjoyable.
Examples of activities include, but are not limited to: food preparation, contests, promotions,
taste testings, farm visits and school gardens.
4. Encourage district staff to cooperate with local agencies and community groups to provide
students with opportunities for volunteer work related to nutrition, such as in food banks,
soup kitchens or after-school programs.
5. Ensure that school counselors and school health services staff consistently promote healthy
eating to students and other staff and that these professionals are prepared to recognize
conditions such as unhealthy weight, eating disorders and other nutrition-related health
problems among students and staff as well as assure access to healthcare.
6. Coordinate the food service program with nutrition instruction. Food service staff should
also work closely with those responsible for other components of the school health program
to achieve common goals.
Nutrition Promotion
The district will promote the importance of good nutrition in its schools and in the community
through one or more of the following activities:
1. Offering healthy eating seminars for parents/guardians.
2. Providing nutrition information to parents/guardians via newsletters, handouts, presentations
or other appropriate means.
3. Posting nutrition tips on district websites.
4. Providing opportunities for parents/guardians to share their healthy food practices with others
in the school community.
5. Disseminating information about community programs that offer nutrition assistance to
families.
6. Posting links to research and articles explaining the connections between good nutrition and
academic performance.
If practical, the district will provide information in a language understandable to the
parents/guardians.
Physical Activity
Moderate Physical Activity – Low-impact to medium-impact physical exertion designed to increase
an individual's heart rate to rise to at least 75 percent of his or her maximum heart rate. Examples
of moderate physical activity include, but are not limited to, running, calisthenics or aerobic exercise.
Time spent in recess and physical education counts as moderate physical activity.
Recess – A structured play environment outside of regular classroom instructional activities that
allows students to engage in safe and active free play.
The district's physical activity goal is to assist students in learning to value and enjoy physical
activity as an ongoing part of a healthy lifestyle by ensuring that every student has the opportunity
to develop the knowledge and skills necessary to perform a variety of physical activities, maintain
physical fitness and regularly participate in physical activity. In order to achieve the physical activity
goal, the district will:
1. Develop a sequential program of appropriate physical education for every student. The
elementary program will provide for:
► Twenty minutes of recess per day. Recess may be incorporated into the lunch period,
but will be scheduled before lunch and held outdoors when possible.
► An average of 150 minutes of moderate physical activity each five-day school week
or an average of 30 minutes per school day. The program will also provide for 50
minutes per week of physical education under the supervision of a certified physical
education instructor.
The middle school program will provide for 225 minutes of moderate physical activity
during each school week and 3,000 minutes of physical education per year.
The high school program will provide for one unit of physical education prior to graduation.
All activity will:
► Emphasize knowledge and skills for a lifetime of regular physical activity.
► Meet the needs of all students, especially those who are not athletically gifted or who
have special needs.
► Provide a variety of activity choices, feature cooperative as well as competitive
activities, and account for gender and cultural differences in students' interests.
► Prohibit exemptions from physical education courses on the basis of participation in
an athletic team, community recreation program, ROTC, marching band or other
school or community activity.
► Be closely coordinated with the other components of the overall school health
program.
2. Provide opportunities and encouragement for students to voluntarily participate in before-
and after-school physical activity programs such as intramural activities, interscholastic
athletics and clubs by:
► Providing a diverse selection of competitive and noncompetitive, as well as
structured and unstructured, activities to the extent that staffing and
district/community facilities permit.
► Offering intramural physical activity programs that feature a broad range of
competitive and cooperative activities for all students.
► Encouraging partnerships between schools and businesses. Promotion of such
partnerships must be appropriate and in accordance with Board policy and applicable
procedures.
3. Strive to provide joint school and community recreational activities by:
► Actively engaging families as partners in their children's education and collaborating
with community agencies and organizations to provide ample opportunities for
students to participate in physical activity beyond the school day.
► Working with recreation agencies and other community organizations to coordinate
and enhance opportunities available to students for physical activity during their out-of-school time.
► Negotiating mutually acceptable, fiscally responsible arrangements with community
agencies and organizations to keep district-owned facilities open for use by students,
staff and community members during non-school hours and vacations.
► Working together with local public works, public safety, police departments and/or
other appropriate state and federal authorities in efforts to make it safer and easier for
students to walk and bike to school.
4. Prohibit the use of physical activity as a form of discipline or punishment and ensure that
physical education and recess will not be withheld as punishment.
5. Discourage periods of inactivity that exceed two or more hours. When activities such as
mandatory schoolwide testing make it necessary for students to remain indoors for long
periods of time, staff should give students periodic breaks during which they are encouraged
to stand and be moderately active.
6. Provide and encourage—verbally and through the provision of space, equipment and
activities—daily periods of moderate to vigorous physical activity for all participants in
onsite after-school child care and enrichment programs sponsored by the district.
7. Provide opportunities and encouragement for staff to be physically active by:
► Planning, establishing and implementing activities to promote physical activity
among staff and providing opportunities for staff to conveniently engage in regular
physical activity.
► Working with recreation agencies and other community organizations to coordinate
and enhance opportunities available to staff for physical activity during their out-of-school time.
Other School-Based Activities
The district's goal for other school-based activities is to ensure an integrated whole-school approach
to the district's wellness program. The district will achieve this goal by addressing the areas itemized
below.
Community Involvement
School instructional staff will collaborate with agencies and groups conducting nutrition education
in the community to send consistent messages to students and their families. Guest speakers invited
to address students will receive appropriate orientation to the relevant policies of the district.
The wellness program shall make effective use of district and community resources and equitably
serve the needs and interests of all students and staff, taking into consideration differences of gender,
cultural norms, physical and cognitive abilities and fitness level.
Family Involvement
The district will strive to engage families as partners in their children's education by supporting
parental efforts to motivate and help their children with maintaining and improving their health,
preventing disease and avoiding health-related risk behaviors. Strategies the district may implement
to achieve family involvement may include, but are not limited to:
1. Providing nutrient analyses of district menus.
2. Providing parents/guardians a list of appropriate foods that meet the district's nutrition
standards for snacks.
3. Providing parents/guardians with ideas for healthy celebrations, parties, rewards and
fundraising activities.
4. Encouraging parents/guardians to pack healthy lunches and snacks and to refrain from
including beverages and foods that do not meet the district’s nutrition standards for
individual foods and beverages.
5. Designing curricular nutrition education activities and promotions to involve
parents/guardians and the community.
6. Supporting efforts of parents/guardians to provide their children with opportunities to be
physically active outside of school.
7. Providing information about physical education and other school-based physical activity
opportunities available to students before, during and after the school day.
8. Sharing information about physical activity and physical education via the district's website,
newsletter, other take-home materials, special events or physical education homework.
9. Working with families to provide consistent sun safety information that includes an overview
of the district's sun safety program, an explanation of how parents/guardians can reinforce
the program at home and how they can become involved with and support the district’s
program.
10. Encouraging parents/guardians to volunteer time in the classroom, cafeteria or at special
events that promote student health.
If practical, the district will provide information in a language understandable to parents/guardians.
Marketing and Advertising
Marketing in district facilities will be consistent with the goals of the district's wellness program and
comply with Board policy. The district will strive to promote the wellness program and educate
parents regarding the quality of district foods.
Tobacco advertising is not permitted on district property, at district-sponsored events or in district-sponsored publications. Food and beverage marketing will be limited to the promotion of foods and
beverages that meet the nutrition standards adopted by the Board. Other examples of marketing and
advertising the district will scrutinize include, but are not limited to: pricing strategies that promote
healthy food choices, audiovisual programming, educational incentive programs, scoreboards, book
covers and vending machine displays.
Meal Times
Students are not permitted to leave school campus during the school day to purchase food or
beverages. Meal times will comply with the following guidelines:
1. Meal times will provide students with at least ten minutes to eat after sitting down for
breakfast and 20 minutes after sitting down for lunch.
2. Activities such as tutoring or meetings will not be held during mealtimes unless students may
eat during such activities.
3. At the elementary level, lunch periods will follow recess periods.
4. Drinking water will be available to students during meals.
5. Students will have access to hand-washing facilities before they eat meals or snacks.
6. The district will take reasonable steps to accommodate the tooth-brushing regimens of
students.
7. Students will be allowed to converse during meals.
8. The cafeteria will be clean, orderly and inviting.
9. Adequate seating and supervision will be provided during meal times.
Outdoor Air Quality
The principal of each school will be responsible for daily monitoring of Air Quality Index (AQI)
information provided by local authorities.
1. When the AQI is "code orange" (unhealthy for sensitive groups of people), students with a
history of reactions to ozone exposure will be permitted to reduce their outdoor exertion level
or time spent outdoors, and the staff will arrange alternative indoor physical activities.
Appropriately trained staff responsible for student supervision will monitor such students for
symptoms of respiratory distress.
2. When the AQI is "code red" (unhealthy), students with a history of reactions to ozone
exposure will remain indoors and participate in indoor physical activities. Appropriately
trained staff responsible for student supervision will monitor such students for symptoms of
respiratory distress. All other students will be allowed to engage in no more than one (1)
hour of heavy exertion (i.e., activities that involve high-intensity exercise such as basketball,
soccer and running) while outdoors.
3. When the AQI is "code purple" (very unhealthy) or "code maroon" (hazardous), all students
will be kept indoors and participate in indoor physical activities. Appropriately trained staff
responsible for student supervision will monitor all students for symptoms of respiratory
distress.
Staff Development and Training
All staff will be provided with ongoing training and professional development related to all areas of
student wellness. The pre-service and ongoing in-service training will include teaching strategies
for behavior change and will focus on giving teachers the skills they need to use non-lecture, active
learning methods. Staff responsible for nutrition education will be adequately prepared and regularly
participate in professional development activities to effectively deliver the nutrition education
program as planned. Staff responsible for implementing the physical education program will be
properly certified and regularly participate in area-specific professional development activities.
Qualified nutrition professionals will administer the district meal programs and will receive ongoing,
area-specific professional development. The district will provide continuing professional
development for all district nutrition professionals. Staff development programs will include
appropriate certification and/or training programs for child nutrition directors, school nutrition
managers and cafeteria workers, according to their levels of responsibility.
Staff Wellness
The St. Charles R-VI School District highly values the health and well-being of every staff member
and will plan and implement activities and policies that support personal efforts by staff to maintain
a healthy lifestyle. The district will offer staff wellness programs that include education on nutrition,
healthy eating behaviors and maintaining a healthy weight for optimal health. The district will
establish and maintain a staff wellness committee composed of at least one: staff member; wellness
committee member; registered dietitian, school nurse or other health professional; employee benefits
specialist; and other appropriate personnel. The staff wellness committee will serve as a
subcommittee of the district wellness committee. The staff wellness committee will develop,
promote and oversee a multifaceted plan to promote staff health and wellness. The plan will be
based on input solicited from district staff and will outline ways to encourage healthy eating, physical
activity, sun safety and other elements of a healthy lifestyle. The staff wellness committee will
distribute its plan to the wellness program committee annually.
Sun Safety
"Sun safety" describes a range of behaviors that include wearing appropriate clothing, applying
sunscreen and limiting sun exposure. The sun safety program will focus on outdoor behavior and
will be developmentally appropriate, active, engaging and taught in lessons that emphasize the
positive benefits of sun safety. Sun safety education will be designed to assist students with:
1. Knowledge about the harmful effects of the sun and ways to protect skin.
2. Sun-safe skills, including the correct use of protective clothing, hats, sunglasses, sunscreen
and lip balm as well as seeking shade and limiting sun exposure when possible and practical
during the hours of peak sun intensity.
3. Knowledge about how to assess personal sun safety habits, set goals for improvement and
achieve these goals.
Tobacco
Tobacco use prevention education will focus on all grades with particular emphasis on middle school
and reinforcement in all later grades. Instructional activities will be participatory and
developmentally appropriate. Tobacco use prevention education programs will be implemented in
accordance with Board policy, relevant administrative procedures and law.
Oversight and Evaluation
The wellness program coordinators are responsible for monitoring implementation of the district
wellness program by:
1. Assuming responsibility for the assessment of existing policies and procedures.
2. Prioritizing wellness goals and writing work plans for each goal.
3. Measuring implementation of the district wellness policy and procedure.
4. Ensuring that the district meets the goals of the wellness policy and procedure.
5. Reporting to the Board on compliance and progress annually.
Monitoring
The food service director/authorized representative will monitor food service areas for compliance
with the district's nutrition guidelines and will report on this matter to the wellness program
coordinators.
The program coordinators will develop an annual summary report based on input from schools
within the district regarding districtwide compliance with the district's wellness-related policies and
procedures. The report will include a baseline of assessed indicators, impact of policy and procedure
changes on those indicators, a report of progress, the extent to which each school is in compliance
with the district's wellness policy and this procedure, steps for moving to the next priority, work
plans for the next year, and recommended policy revisions. The report will be provided to the Board
of Education and made available to the public on the district's website or by other appropriate means.
Compliance Indicators
During initial development of the district’s wellness-related policies and procedures, each school in
the district will conduct a baseline assessment of the school's existing nutrition and physical activity
programs and practices. The wellness committee will compile these results. In addition to the
baseline information provided from each school, the committee will use no fewer than four of the
following indicators to measure the impact of the district wellness program:
1. School Health Index.
2. Physical fitness reports.
3. Physical activity levels of staff.
4. Weight status or body mass index (BMI) of students and staff.
5. Fruit and vegetable intake of students and staff.
6. Number of healthy food items available in vending machines.
7. Number of discipline problems.
8. Achievement levels of students.
9. Student absenteeism.
10. Number of staff who participated in training and development related to student wellness.
Policy Review
The wellness program coordinators will provide policy revision recommendations to the Board as
part of the annual report. The recommendations will be based on analysis of the compliance
indicators and comparison of the district's policy to model policies provided, recommended or
referenced by the USDA. The Board will revise the wellness policy as it deems necessary.
Administrative procedures will be revised accordingly.
* * * * * * *
Note: The reader is encouraged to review policies and/or forms for related information in this
administrative area.
Implemented: 08/12/2010
Revised: 05/10/2012
MSIP Refs: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3
St. Charles R-VI School District, St. Charles, Missouri
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