Student Wellness
I. Policy Statement
The Goochland County School Board recognizes the link between student health and learning and desires to provide a comprehensive program promoting healthy eating and physical activity in division students.
II. Goals
The Goochland County School Board has established the following goals to promote student wellness.
A. Nutrition Promotion and Education
1. Interactive nutrition education is offered in Goochland County Public School dining rooms and classrooms, with coordination between school nutrition staff, teachers, and community partners.
2. Nutrition education is taught to 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th grade students through health/physical education classes.
3. The staff responsible for nutrition education is adequately prepared and participates regularly in professional development activities to effectively deliver an accurate nutrition education program.
4. A Nutritional Poster Contest is held in elementary schools and is optional in middle and high school.
5. Students receive consistent nutrition messages from all aspects of the school program.
6. Division health education curriculum standards and guidelines address both nutrition and physical education.
7. Nutrition is integrated into the health education.
B. Physical activity
The Goochland school division has a goal of making a program of physical fitness available to all students for at least 150 minutes per week on average during the regular school year. Such program may include any combination of physical education classes, extracurricular activities, and other programs and physical activities. The division’s goal for physical fitness are below:
1. All physical education/health teachers are highly qualified in their field.
2. All students pre-K through tenth grade receive physical education (some high school students may elect to take their courses in 11th or 12th grade). Elementary school students receive daily recess (weather permitting) in addition to scheduled physical education classes, conducted by qualified instructors two to three days a week. Middle and high school students are on block schedules and receive instruction from qualified instructors twice weekly for 90 minutes. Administering or withholding physical activity as a form of punishment or behavior management is an inappropriate practice (position supported by the National Association for Sports and Physical Education).
3. Physical education involves sharing information with families through handouts, and encourages student and family participation in school and community-based activities.
4. All students in grades four through ten participate in yearly physical fitness tests as approved by the Virginia Department of Education.
5. Students are given opportunities for physical activity through a range of before- and/or after-school programs including, but not limited to, intramurals, interscholastic athletics, and physical activity clubs.
C. Other school-based activities
1. An adequate time is allowed for students to eat meals in a clean, safe, and enjoyable environment. Lunches are scheduled within a two-hour window of the noon hour.
2. All children who participate in subsidized food programs are able to obtain food in an non-stigmatizing manner.
3. Bottled water is available for purchase through the nutritional service program at each School and may be carried to classes following individual school guidelines. Disposable cups and drinking fountains are available in all cafeterias for students who are not purchasing bottled water.
4. Students participate in health screening through qualified personnel as dictated by county and state guidelines. (vision, hearing, blood pressure, height & weight) Scoliosis information is sent to parents of all students in grades five through ten.
5. In addition to scheduled PE classes and recess, opportunities for physical activity outside of school hours are available through extended use of district and county facilities and partnership with local community based organizations
6. Promote the use of locally grown and seasonal food and school gardens.
D. Nutrition Guidelines
Nutrition guidelines have been selected by the division for all foods available on every school campus during the school day. The objectives of the guidelines are to promote student health and learning and reduce childhood obesity.
1. Nutritional standards for the school breakfast and lunch programs as well as a la cart items all meet or exceed state and federal guidelines.
2. The caloric amounts, fats, sodium, cholesterol, sugar, fiber, protein, and carbohydrate content for items served in the school cafeteria are posted in the cafeteria, available in the office of each school, and sent home with each student on a monthly basis.
3. Cafeteria staff are mandated to maximize nutritional values by decreasing fat and added sugar, increasing nutritional density, and moderating portion size of each individual food or beverage sold within the school environment.
4. All Food Service Managers will maintain Serve Safe® certification.
5. The use of candy is discouraged as a reward in the classroom. Healthy food alternatives for classroom parties are encouraged.
E. Implementation
The School Board encourages parents, students, representatives of the school food authority, teachers of physical education, school health professionals, school administrators, and the general public to participate in the development, implementation, and periodic review and update of this policy.
The Superintendent or designee will be responsible for overseeing the implementation of this policy and will develop procedures for evaluating the policy, including indicators that will be used to measure its success. The public, including parents, students, and others in the community, will be informed and updated about the content of implementation of the policy. Implementation procedures will include periodically measuring and making available to the public an assessment on the implementation of the policy, including the extent to which schools are in compliance with the policy, the extent to which this policy compares to model school wellness policies, and a description of the progress made in attaining the goals of the policy.