The Goochland County School Board recognizes the link between student health and learning and desires to provide a comprehensive program promoting healthy eating, mental health wellness, and physical activity in division students.
Goals
Based on review and consideration of evidence-based strategies and techniques, the Goochland County School Board establishes the following goals to promote student wellness.
Nutrition Promotion and Education:
Interactive nutrition education is offered in Goochland County Public School dining rooms and classrooms, with coordination between school nutrition staff, teachers, and community partners.
Nutrition education is taught to 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th grade students through health/physical education classes.
The staff responsible for nutrition education is adequately prepared and participates regularly in professional development activities to effectively deliver an accurate nutrition education program.
Goochland County Public Schools will provide at least 140 minutes of nutrition education to every student, exceeding the expectations of the Virginia Department of Education Health Standards of Learning. The cafeteria environment will reinforce nutrition education provided in the classroom.
Students receive consistent nutrition messages from all aspects of the school program.
Division health education curriculum standards and guidelines address both nutrition and physical education.
Nutrition is integrated into the health education curriculum.
Mental Health Wellness:
Professional staff support and promote a continuum of school mental health services to address student needs to positively impact attendance, emotional, social, and academic growth.
School-wide initiatives are implemented to enhance student understanding, attitudes, and behaviors that promote health, well-being, and human dignity.
Teachers foster and maintain an inclusive learning culture and environment providing timely support while encouraging family engagement.
Staff development may include strategies and tools to:
support school-based prevention and mental health interventions;
identify targeted needs;
build positive relationships and encourage collaboration between families, school and community services; and
foster development of resiliency and problem-solving skills.
Physical activity:
All physical education/health teachers are highly qualified in their field.
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).
Physical education involves sharing information with families through handouts, and encourages student and family participation in school and community-based activities.
All students in grades four through ten participate in yearly physical fitness tests as approved by the Virginia Department of Education.
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.
Other school-based activities:
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.
All children who participate in school meal programs are able to obtain food in a non-stigmatizing manner.
Bottled water is available for purchase through the nutritional service program at each school and may be carried to classes following individual school guidelines.
Potable water is available at no charge and accessible to all students without restriction in all cafeterias during meal service.
Several water bottle filling stations are located in each building to be used throughout the day.
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.
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.
Promote the use of locally grown and seasonal food and school gardens.
Nutrition Standards and Guidelines:
The school board incorporates and adopts the nutrition standards in 8 VAC 20-740-10 through 8 VAC 20-704-40.
The Superintendent is responsible for
creating regulations to develop and implement standards for all foods and beverages provided, but not sold, to students on the school campus during the school day;
ensuring that foods and beverages offered on the school campus meet or exceed the USDA Smart Snacks nutrition standards including those provided at celebrations or classroom snacks. Non-food celebrations are; promoted. Foods and beverages will not be used as a reward or withheld as punishment;
creating standards and nutrition guidelines for all foods and beverages sold to students on the school campus during the school day that promote student health and reduce childhood obesity and are consistent with the applicable standards and requirements in 7 C.F.R. §§ 210.10, 210.11 and 220.8; and
ensuring all food beverages sold outside of the school meal programs shall meet the standards established in the USDA's Nutrition Standards for Smart Snacks.
All Food Service Managers will maintain Serve Safe® certification.
Healthy food alternatives for classroom parties are encouraged.
The use of physical activity is encouraged as a reward within the classroom in lieu of candy rewards.
Schools are permitted to allow 30 school-sponsored fundraisers per site during the school day to be exempt from Smart Snack standards. One fundraiser is defined as one school day. Fundraisers that include the sale of food or beverages are not permitted during school meal service times (i.e., from 6:00 a.m. to the end of the breakfast period and from the beginning of the first lunch period to the end of the last lunch period.)
These exempt fundraisers are tracked and monitored by the school principal or principal's designee and records are kept on file in the main office. Per 8VAC20-290-10 and 8VAC20-580-60, money earned from selling food or beverages during mealtimes is deposited in the nonprofit School Nutrition Program account.
Marketing on the school campus during the school day is permitted only for those foods and beverages that meet the nutrition standards under 7 C.F.R § 210.10 and 210.11, serve to promote student health, prevent childhood obesity, and combat problems associated with poor nutrition and physical inactivity.
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 through attendance at the School Health Advisory Board meetings.
The Superintendent or Superintendent's designee is responsible for implementing and enforcing this policy. The implementation of the policy is measured by each school's assessment of compliance as documented in the triennial assessment.
The public is informed about the content and implementation of the policy by periodic school board presentation. This policy and the findings of the triennial assessment are posted on the Goochland County Public Schools website.
Implementation procedures include measuring and making available to the public, at least once every three years, 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. At least once every three years, the District will evaluate compliance with the wellness policy to assess the implementation. The results of the triennial assessment are considered in updating the policy.
The School Board retains the following records to document compliance with 7 C.F.R § 210.31:
the policy;
documents demonstrating compliance with community involvement requirements to make the policy and triennial assessments available to the public; and
documentation of the triennial assessment of the policy.