LOCAL WELLNESS POLICY
A local school wellness policy (“wellness policy”) is a written document that guides a local educational agency (LEA) or school district’s efforts to establish a school environment that promotes students’ health, well-being, and ability to learn. The wellness policy requirement was established by the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004 and further strengthened by the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (HHFKA). It requires each LEA participating in the National School Lunch Program and/or School Breakfast Program to develop a wellness policy. The responsibility for developing a wellness policy is placed at the local level so the unique needs of each school under the LEA’s jurisdiction can be addressed. Additional wellness policy information is available at the link below:
Provisions of the Proposed Rule…on February 26, 2014, USDA Food and Nutrition Service proposed regulations to create a framework and guidelines for written wellness policies established by LEAs to include the following:
Anchors: Nutrition Promotion/Education, Physical Activity, Community Participation and Progress Monitoring
LOCAL WELLNESS PROTOCOL
WINGS Academies are committed to providing school environments that promote and protect children’s health, well being, and ability to learn by supporting and promoting healthy eating, physical activity and encourage participation of the community.
Nutrition Education – Goals to Promote Nutrition
Step 1: all students will be offered verse serve healthy meals on daily basis per the guidelines of the national school breakfast and lunch program (NSLP) and will meet requirements per USDA. All students will be encouraged to eat the meals provided by the school, try new foods, reduce consumption of unhealthy snacks, as often brought from home and for after-school snacks and increase daily water compensation. Students will be permitted to get water upon request and will be directed by staff to get water during and after lunch, following physical activity and upon their statement of not generally feeling well. Lastly, school will not sell a la carte food and/or beverages and all requirements of our NSLP will be included in the Parent-Student Handbook to notify enrolled families and promote community awareness.
Physical Activity – Structured Recess
All students in grades K-8 will be scheduled to and encouraged to participate in a (20) minute moderate to vigorous structured recess class (2) times per week to include physical development and academic instruction with respect to their internal and external development. Students in grades 9-12 will participate in weekly intramural activities. Additionally, students will be assessed (3) times per year with respect to physical education standards per the Ohio Department of Education consistent with the districts (3) reporting periods.
Community Participation – Public Notification
WINGS will promote community participation, by providing information to parents via the parent-student handbook, publications in a local community newspaper, flyers, letters and general notifications as applicable. We will encourage families to pack healthy lunches, snacks and utilize opportunities as applicable, via general parent contact to promote healthy eating as applicable. i.e. general office phone calls and scheduled and unscheduled parent visits. Families will also, receive monthly breakfast/lunch menus and physical education progress reports. Lastly, menu reviews and copies of the wellness policy are available upon request.
Monitoring and Policy Review – Wellness Committee
The Wellness Committee will be established to include (3) members, as designated by the Administration to include an Administrator, Certified Teacher, and Parent and/or community member. The committee will meet (2) times per school year i.e. December and April and complete a review of the implementation of the wellness policy, through a random review of teacher lesson plans, monthly catered meals menus, and informal observations of structured recess, and breakfast and lunch service. Additionally, the committee will create, submit, conduct and complete an annual parent/student survey as it relates to the LEA’s wellness policy.