Returning Boston Strong

Welcome to Whole Child Wellness 20-21!

For almost two decades, the Boston Public Schools has implemented its Wellness Policy (first passed by School Committee in 2003) with the understanding that physical and mental health, emotional well-being, and positive development are inextricably linked with academic success. Our goal has always been to actively promote the physical, social, and emotional wellness of all students to support their healthy development and readiness to learn. This work is steered and supported by the District Wellness Council and implemented by the Office of Health and Wellness. Each school has a Wellness Council that ensures key staff and stakeholders are collaborating to eliminate the health and wellness barriers to student success.

Addressing existing health inequities that interfere with learning and disproportionately impact youth of color is critical to decreasing opportunity gaps that impact BPS students. Given the current public health crisis, and with COVID-19 disproportionately impacting communities of color, reopening with a focus on the well-being of students is essential. BPS strives to be one of the healthiest school districts in the country; now more than ever we must commit to that vision.

Whole School Whole Community Whole Child Approach

BPS Wellness Policy

BPS aims to create safe, healthy, welcoming, joyful, anti-racist, and culturally and linguistically affirming learning environments for every child in every classroom at every school. BPS District Wellness Policy provides the roadmap for implementing that goal. The policy was created to align with the WSCC model. The eight policy areas address the 10 components of the WSCC model.

A whole school whole community approach to whole child well-being

The WSCC model is an ecological approach that is directed at the whole school, with the school drawing its resources and influences from the whole community and serving to address the needs of the whole child (ASCD). ASCD and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) encourage the use of the model as a framework for improving students' learning and health. At BPS, we are committed to using this model through an anti-racist and equity-focused lens in order to truly attend to the whole child. The WSCC model provides a framework to address the symbiotic relationship between learning and health.

We believe high-quality schools should include core elements that meet the needs of the whole child, including health education and physical education, arts programming, and social-emotional skill development.

Our community, nonprofit, faith-based, higher education, philanthropic, corporate, and city partners serving our youth and families are essential to their social, emotional, physical and cognitive development. Every school and central office should proactively engage and incorporate the voices of students, families, and their communities, and strategically collaborate with and leverage partners to ensure strong student and school outcomes.

BPS has been using the WSCC model to guide our District Wellness Policy and the coordination of the District Wellness Council and all school-based wellness councils. Continuing to use this model as a guide during reopening will help district and school leaders develop the necessary multi-disciplinary teams needed to address student, family, and staff needs. In this moment, attending to social, emotional, and physical wellness and prioritizing student, family, and staff well-being is non-negotiable for addressing equity and ensuring health and safety.

Definitions

Well-Being

is a positive outcome of multiple social, economic, and mental, emotional, and physical health factors (National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion). Student, family, and staff well-being is our goal and an essential part of learning. Wellness and well-being cannot exist without racial equity.

Wellness

is a process by which individuals move towards optimal physical, mental, and social-emotional health, regardless of their current health status or disability, by practicing healthy choices within an environment which encourages healthy decision making (Massachusetts DPH Standards for School Wellness Advisory Committees). Comprehensive Health Education, Physical Education, and the Arts are educational content areas that promote SEL and that help students and staff develop individual and community components of wellness. School-based services, practices, and protocols help support learning and create a wellness learning environment.

Maslow before Bloom

The CDCs reopening guidance highlights the need to focus on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs before Bloom’s Taxonomy for Learning. CDC emphasizes doing this will build trust and help with healing from the individual and collective trauma our communities have experienced. A key element of this approach is to attend to both the social emotional and physical health needs of our students and staff.

At this moment in time, prioritizing the social, emotional, and physical wellness of students, families, and staff is a must for addressing equity and ensuring health and safety. “Ensuring students first have access to physiological and safety needs will lead to opportunities to feel connected and loved by teachers and classmates.” Focusing on individual and collective well-being builds trust. Once basic needs are met educators should reinforce existing protective factors, build new coping skills and expand equitable learning strategies. BPS schools must re-open using strategies to build school communities that are safe, healthy, welcoming, joyful, anti-racist and culturally and linguistically affirming. This is the work of every educator and all support staff in every school, every office, and every space that Boston Public School students inhabit. This is exemplified by a WSCC approach to learning and well-being, currently outlined in our Opportunity Gaps Policy, our Wellness Policy and our Strategic Plan. We must prioritize the experiences and needs of historically marginalized students and their families to ensure that equitable student outcomes are centered in our planning.

Classroom Learning Environments

An ecological approach to learning and health, such as the WSCC model, requires efforts at multiple levels within our institution: the district-level, school-level, and in each classroom. The image below describes how teachers can support the whole child in each of their classrooms through each area of the District Wellness Policy. Teachers should also find ways to engage families and involve community partners.

Wellness Councils

A school wellness council acts as the centralized shared-leadership team that ensures collaborative coordination and communication about the WSCC approach and the implementation of the wellness policy. Wellness councils should include staff and other stakeholders involved in each component of the WSCC model as council members (see table below). Establish regular meeting times and communicate clear goals and action steps for the group. The council should keep racial-equity at the forefront of the decision-making process to ensure that the implementation of anti-racist policies, protocols, and practices and the provision of equitable services and supports. The process of the council must be iterative, collaborative, and dynamic to ensure the school is meeting the needs of staff, students, and families during this challenging time.

Policy Resource: See HWD-01 in the Health & Wellness Superintendent Circulars folder

Council Support Resources: Tools for Wellness Councils, Wellness Policy Summary Requirements

Professional Development Opportunities

Wellness Council Basics

Join our Google Classroom! This resource will support school leaders and school wellness council co-chairs in coordinating a high-functioning shared leadership team to oversee implementation of health and wellness policies, protocols, and practices in the school.

Wellness in the Classroom

Join our Google Classroom! This resource will use the wellness policy as a framework for guiding teachers to identify classroom practices that address the physical, social, and emotional wellbeing of their students.

Please visit our website for more information.

Contact: Maryka Lier, Assistant Director of Wellness Policy & Promotions

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