Fitnessgram

Fitnessgram

Dear Parent/Guardian,                                       

Students across Greenville County will demonstrate their health-related fitness with a fitness test and reporting system during this school year. With the passage of the Student Health and Fitness Act of 2005, an individual student’s fitness status must be reported to his/her parent or guardian during a student’s fifth grade, eighth grade, and high school physical education courses. The Greenville County School District has adopted the FITNESSGRAM as a health-related fitness assessment and computerized reporting system. FITNESSGRAM promotes parental awareness of children’s fitness levels and provides an effective way for physical education teachers to report the results of physical fitness assessments.

 

FITNESSGRAM is a battery of health-related fitness test items that are used to measure four components of fitness: (1) cardiovascular endurance, (2) muscle strength and endurance, (3) flexibility, and (4) body composition. FITNESSGRAM uses criterion-referenced standards, called Healthy Fitness Zones, rather than national averages, to evaluate fitness performance. These standards are age and gender specific and based on how fit children need to be to have sufficient or good health and thereby be protected against conditions that result from sedentary living. FITNESSGRAM reports also provide physical activity recommendations that will help students improve fitness in each of the component areas.

 

Greenville County Schools are committed to quality physical education programs. Fitness education and assessment is characteristic of quality physical education and is part of an ongoing process for helping students learn to assess their fitness levels, set goals for improvement, and monitor progress in reaching their goals. Physical education is one avenue to help students achieve and enjoy good health and well-being.

 

For more information about FITNESSGRAM, visit the Greenville County Schools website at www.greenville.k12.sc.us.

 

Sincerely,

Kathie Frye

Blue Ridge Middle Physical Education