1. School Wellness Policy
Elements
Today I’m going to give you an overview of the School Wellness policy requirements.

2. Release of the Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010
Why?
Release of the Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010
New school wellness policy requirement expands on Child Nutrition WIC Reauthorization Act, 2004
With the release of the HHFKA 2010 there are new regulations around what
schools need to do with their Wellness policies. This expands on the requirements
that were set back in 2004 (which primarily mandated that schools simply DEVELOP a wellness policy).
The new regulations expand on that to include making sure schools are implementing the policies they set,
monitoring and evaluating their policies, and updating the community on the status of their policies.

3. Wellness Policy Requirement Overview
Wellness Policy Elements - Overview
Stakeholder Involvement
Nutrition Guidelines
Nutrition Education and Promotion
Physical Education and Activity
Public Notification
Monitoring and Evaluation
Public Involvement
Nutrition Guidelines
Nutrition Education and Promotion
Physical Education and Activity
Public Notification
Monitoring and Evaluation
These are the elements of the Wellness policy elements that I’ll be going over today. I’ll then show you some examples of
what schools are doing across Washington state in these areas.

4. Wellness Policy 1. Public Involvement Team should include:
Collaborative community team to develop, implement and review policy
Team should include:
Parents
Teachers
Physical Education Instructors
School Health Professionals
Students
School Board members and Administration
Community members
The first policy element is Stakeholder Involvement. Schools should establish a collaborative community team to develop, implement
and review their wellness policy
Their teams should include:
Parents, teachers, Physical education instructors, school health professionals (such as the nurse, Physical or occupational
Therapists), students, school board members, administration as well as interested community members.

5. Wellness Policy 2. Nutrition Guidelines School Meals
Standards for all food available on the school campus
School Meals
Free water available during lunch
Meal Service and Time
Competitive Foods
Classroom/school celebrations
Using non-food rewards
Fundraisers
The second element involves setting standards for all foods available on the school campus.
That would include making sure school meals are meeting USDA guidelines and maybe setting some goals to improve school nutrition through more scratch-made meals, healthy menu changes, or starting a farm-to-school program.
School meals are also required to make available free drinking water.
Schools should also set standards that allow students sufficient time to eat their meals,
Policies should also address:
-Competitive foods (which are foods sold at school outside of and in competition with the reimbursable meal program- such as elimination of soda
from vending machines)
-Classroom/school celebrations (finding healthy alternatives to birthday and holiday party treats)
-Using Non-food rewards: (since using food as a reward sends the wrong message to kids ( encouraging alternatives such as stickers, books, or extra recess time)
Fundraisers- finding healthier alternatives to selling candy and cookies

6. Wellness Policy 3. Nutrition Education
Goals for Nutrition Education
Classroom-based (incorporated into curriculum)
Cafeteria interventions
Foodservice staff education
Staff training
Home and Community
The third element includes setting goals for Nutrition education across the school.
This can include elements of:
Classroom-based nutrition education (such as the FOSS nutrition kits curriculum, cooking classes)
Cafeteria based education: such as the USDA Myplate information or “Eating the colors of the rainbow” placed near the salad bar
Training foodservice staff (scratch and whole foods cooking, healthy meals, reducing sodium, and preparing fresh fruits/vegetables)
Providing continuing education opportunities to school staff on nutrition and healthy eating
And Sending nutrition information home for parents, or holding nutrition education events for the community

7. Wellness Policy 4. Nutrition Promotion
Changing the school environment to support healthy eating
Become a HUSSC and Team Nutrition School
Participate in USDA Fresh Fruit and Vegetable program (if eligible)
Staff modeling health eating and physical activity
Cafeteria ambiance/education
Harvest of the Month/Taste testing days
Community meal events
School Garden
Health Fair and Wellness Newsletter
In addition to Nutrition education, schools also need to include goals for Nutrition promotion (which is changing the school environment to support healthy eating)
There are many ways schools can achieve that (These are merely ideas – LEAs can decide for themselves what works in your district/school):
- They can apply to become a US Healthier school and Team Nutrition school
Schools with a high free and reduced percentage can apply for the USDA fresh fruit and vegetable program ( receive funding to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables throughout the year that can be provided as a snack to students along with some nutrition education)
- Staff can model healthy eating and Physical Activity (make a huge impact on students)
Schools can make their eating environment more appealing and include nutrition information in areas where kids wait in line etc.
Host Harvest of the month events or taste testing days (with new menu items)
Schools can organize community meal events featuring a healthy menu
A school garden is also a wonderful nutrition promoter on many levels.
Finally, schools can organize health fairs and publish wellness newsletters to promote healthy eating

8. 5. Physical Education (PE)
Wellness Policy
5. Physical Education (PE)
Goals for Physical Education
Minutes/Day or week
(minimum 100 minutes/week)
Curriculum
Fitness testing
Goals for Physical Education also need to be included in the policy.
This includes:
How many minutes/day or week students will have PE classes. (According to Washington regulations, 100 minutes/week are required
the WAC ) *Sadly, this minimum is not met at the majority of schools in WA state
Which PE curriculum will be used?
Will the PE program will include some fitness testing?

9. Wellness Policy 6. Physical Activity
Goals for physical activity and other school wellness activities
Recess
Physical activity breaks in classes
Recess before lunch
After-school access to school facilities
Safe routes to school
Walk-a-thon/clubs
Separate physical activity goals should also be included in wellness policies to make sure students are getting enough exercise during the day
(This is separate from Physical education).
This can include:
- Providing enough recess time throughout the day
- Encouraging physical activity breaks in classes
- Changing your policy to include recess before lunch (which research is showing improves students nutrient intake, less food waste, and less
behavioral issues).
- It can include policies around after-school access to school facilities and safe routes to school
- As well as holding walk-a-thons or starting walking/running clubs

10. Wellness Policy 7. Public Notification
Inform and update the public about content, implementation, and compliance
Website
Handbook
Newsletter
Report to school board
Schools are also required to inform and update the public about the contents of the wellness policy, implementation and compliance
on a regular basis
Some avenues for communication can include:
Posting the wellness policy and updates on the school’s website
Including the policy in the student handbook
Including updates in the school’s newsletter
And Reporting updates to the school board

11. 8. Monitoring and Evaluation
Wellness Policy
8. Monitoring and Evaluation
Assess and evaluate compliance
Student health trends, e.g. fitness tests, nutrition habits
Time spent on physical activity
Nutrition education programs conducted
Financial impact, e.g. cafeteria a la carte sales, vending machines
Finally schools are required to assess and evaluate wellness policy compliance (Is the school following through on the
Policies set?)
Schools can do this a number of ways such as:
Evaluating health trends through fitness testing or nutrition habits through surveys
Assess time spent on physical activity
Track how many nutrition education programs were conducted in a certain time period
- And also Evaluating the financial impact- monitoring a la carte sales etc.

12. WHAT’S HAPPENING ACROSS WASHINGTON STATE?

13. What’s Happening across Washington State?
Nutrition Guidelines Example
Wenatchee School District
Farm to School
Healthy Menu Changes
Whole Foods Training
Here is a Nutrition guidelines example from the eastern part of the state: Wenatchee school district
The Nutrition Services department at Wenatchee School District successfully participates in Farm to School, has made many Healthy Menu Changes and has whole foods training for food services staff.

14. What’s Happening across Washington State?
District contracts with 20 local farms (within a mile radius) to provide fresh fruits and vegetables to the school lunch program.
Example: Whole washed carrots with stems on salad bar (Kids love it!)
Eliminated chocolate milk from the menu
Healthy menu changes (low-fat ranch dressing made from white beans)
Foodservice director (Chef) conducted Foodservice staff training on whole foods cooking

15. What’s Happening Across Washington State Olympia School District:
Nutrition Education Example
Olympia School District:
Madison Elementary
Mobile cooking cart/nutrition classes
Chef taught healthy cooking and nutrition classes
School garden and “Farm stand Fridays”
Nutrition Education Example
Olympia School District:
Madison Elementary
Mobile cooking cart/nutrition classes
Chef taught healthy cooking and nutrition classes
School garden and “Farm stand Fridays” .

16. What’s Happening Across Washington State
The school has hired a part-time chef to teach healthy cooking/nutrition classes to their students 1x/month using a mobile
Cooking cart (used in the classrooms or on nice days taken outside in the school’s garden)
All students are given a copy of CHOP CHOP magazine (which is a healthy cooking and eating magazine for children). Recipes
are chosen from the magazine. The students are included in the cooking as “Sous chefs” and are involved in chopping
Or peeling vegetables for the recipes.
Some of the things they’ve made include: Vegetable fried rice, borscht soup, cole slaw and frozen yogurt.
At the end of the month a “Farm stand Friday” is held which features at least one of the vegetables used in the cooking class. Students earn tokens to purchase vegetables to bring home for doing “Green” deeds at school.

17. What’s Happening Across Washington State
Nutrition Promotion Example
Seattle School District:
Graham Hill Elementary
Harvest of the Month
Features monthly locally grown food
Lunch features that food
Harvest of the Month Bulletin board
Menu includes nutrition information related to food
Interactive activities and guest visits
An example of Nutrition Promotion would be found at Graham Hill Elementary in the Seattle school district
-Harvest of the Month
Features monthly locally grown food
Lunch features that food
Harvest of the Month Bulletin board
Menu includes nutrition information related to food
Interactive activities and guest visits

18. What’s Happening Across Washington State
- I visited the school this past March. Potatoes were the “Harvest of the month” with roasted Red potato wedges featured on the menu.
- In partnership with the Seattle/King county department of health, a health educator came to the school during the lunch periods wearing overalls and a straw hat.
- She brought with her a cardboard box of potatoes with shredded paper in it (for soil) and worked her way around the lunchroom
talking to students about how potatoes grow, the nutritional benefits, and varieties of potatoes. She allowed students to
“harvest” some potatoes and see examples of red, russet, gold, and purple potatoes. She sliced a purple potato so the kids
Could see the color inside.
Each month cafeterias are provided with materials focusing on the featured local food item.  Materials are then displayed on their Harvest of the Month bulletin board located in the cafeteria.  The nutrition educator packet provides key information about the featured item as well as resources to further explore each fruit, vegetable, grain or dairy item,  It incorporates hands-on activities, tools and ideas for open-ended exploration by students.  The packet promotes mathematics, science, health, reading and gardening, all centered around the highlighted food. 

19. What’s Happening Across Washington State Lake Stevens School District
Physical Education Example
Lake Stevens School District
Middle School
Students receive one full hour of physical education daily
Pedometers given to encourage and track “Active time”
A good example of Physical education is at Lake Stevens Middle school up North.
-Students receive one full hour of PE every day (*Most schools don’t even meet the minimum of 100 minutes/week)
Pedometers are given to students to encourage and track “Active time” (so that even if they are standing on the sidelines
during the PE class, they are motivated to keep moving by jogging in place etc)
RCW 28A Average of at least 100 instructional minutes per week per year in physical education Grades 1-8
Grades 9-12: One credit course or its equivalent shall be offered in PE for each grade.

20. What’s Happening Across Washington State Auburn School District
Physical Activity Example
Auburn School District
DECA students started a “Commit to Fit” campaign to change culture at their schools
Commitments included:
60 minutes daily activity
Walking/biking to school
Making healthy food choices
For Physical Activity, at the Auburn school district, DECA students started a campaign to change the health culture at their schools.
Students and staff signed up and committed to 60 minutes of daily activity, walking/biking to school as well
as making healthy food choices
Over 4,000 students and staff signed up to participate

21. Nutrition standards for all foods sold in schools
What’s Coming?
Nutrition standards for all foods sold in schools
(Competitive foods)
The USDA is currently working on competitive food guidelines for schools with an expected release date of late 2012.

22. ??????????????????
A Toolkit to help with this process will be available Online on the OSPI website
at end of August 2012
Questions?