Yucca Elementary School District No. 13 Policies
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Nutrition and Fitness Wellness Policy Updated October 2019
The Yucca Elementary School is committed to providing a school environment that enhances learning and development of lifelong wellness practices. To accomplish these goals, the Yucca Elementary School implements the following practices. • Goals for Nutrition Promotion – Our goal is to create attractive meals that the students want to eat, to teach them about making healthy choices when eating and encourage them to be active at school and at home. • Goal For Nutrition Education – Our goal is to reach every house with our monthly newsletters, to have the My Plate program brought to the school when available, and encourage instructional strategies that incorporate experiential learning opportunities (e.g., taste testing, cooking demonstrations, tours of farmers markets, and school gardens) that engage students and family members in reinforcing healthy nutrition behaviors. • Goal for Physical Activity – Our goal is to provide a physical education program that builds interest and proficiency in movement skills and promotes students’ lifelong fitness through physical education. • All Child Nutrition programs will comply with Federal and State requirements. • Foods made available on campus will comply with current USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans, except for the exemptions (see Exempt Food and Beverages). Principal/Head Teacher shall from time to time have the discretion to allow for certain celebrations that do not follow the guidelines. Eating Environment: • The District participates in the Community Eligibility Provision so that all students that attend the Yucca Elementary School are able to eat a nutritious breakfast and lunch. • The District will provide a clean pleasant eating environment and students will be given adequate time to eat breakfast and lunch. • The school doors open at 7:30 in the morning so the students may go out for recess before breakfast. At 7:40 the students go to the cafeteria for breakfast. At 8:00 they go to class as the school-day begins. • Students that show up late for school have the option to go have breakfast before they go to class. • Students are given ample time to enjoy eating their healthy meals with friends. • Recess is after lunch so that they don’t feel the need to hurry with their meal. • Food or physical activity will not be used as a reward or a punishment. Food Safety/Food Security: • All foods made available at the school comply with state and local food safety and sanitation regulations. HACCP plans and guidelines are implemented to prevent food illness. • For safety and security of the food and facility, access to the food service operation area is limited to Child Nutrition staff and authorized personnel only. • All food service personnel must obtain a food handler’s card, Food Manager’s Certificate or applicable Mohave County certification as required by the guidelines of the Arizona Department of Health Services. Nutrition Education: • The District will set forth nutritional education that is age-appropriate in both skills and knowledge. • To have a broader impact, nutrition education will involve sharing information with families and the community at large. • Nutrition education should be integrated into other areas of the curriculum such as math, science, language arts and social studies to make it exciting for the children. • The District will have the Mohave County Environmental Health Department come into the classrooms and teach the “My Plate” program when available. • Family nutrition education will be accomplished in the form of handouts, district website postings, presentations, school newsletters, etc. Nutrition education will be provided to families of students at all levels within the district. Nutrition Promotion and Marketing: • School meals will be made attractive to students to the extent possible. Most meals served will be homemade. • Yucca Elementary School will provide a consistent message of nutrition and wellness. This will be accomplished through the use of multi-media: videos, morning announcements, school newsletters, websites, etc. • We have promotional signage around the school and in the cafeteria. This includes posters and stickers from Team Nutrition to promote healthy eating habits. We also have posters from My Plate that promote healthy messages to the students. • The Yucca Elementary School does not have any vending machines on the school campus not so we have any snacks available for sale. • The District will comply with special dietary needs for students as required by the Arizona Department of Education Special Dietary Needs Manual. Exempt Food and Beverages – Sale or service of the following food and beverages are exempt from the nutritional guidelines: • Food and beverages sold or served to students after the school day or days the school is not in session. • Food or beverages brought to school by a student for consumption by the student only. • Food or beverages served at classroom parties or activities. • Foods and beverages sold as an exempt fundraiser. Physical Education: • The District goal for physical activity is to provide every student with the skills to maintain physical fitness and regularly participate in physical activities. Each student will be given skills to understand the benefits of a healthy lifestyle in which physical activity is a key component. • All students will participate in the level of activity appropriate for the age skill, or physical limitations of each student. • All students in kindergarten through fifth grade are given a 15-minute morning and afternoon recess. They also receive a recess after their lunch time. The sixth through eighth grade students have a ten-minute recess/break in the morning and a recess after their lunch. Recesses are supervised, preferable held outdoors during which the students are encouraged moderate to vigorous physical activity, verbally and through the provision of space and equipment. • The kindergarten through second graders will get a minimum of 300 minutes of physical activity weekly. Third through fifth grade will receive a minimum of 265 minutes of physical activity weekly and sixth through eighth grade will receive a minimum of 260 minutes of physical activity weekly. • Once a year, in May, our students attend a Small School Track Meet. During the school year the students work on getting their muscles in shape to compete in the track meet. • The last quarter of the school year we hold “Survivor”. This encourages team work, physical activity (as the kids really look forward to it) and the ability to overcome obstacles, physically and mentally, to push beyond their limits. • The District will include activities that are competitive, non-competitive sports as well as individual instruction. • The District will provide a physical and social environment that encourages safe and enjoyable activities for all students, including those who are not athletically gifted. School Wellness Committee: • The District and stakeholders will hold yearly meetings at the end of each school year to prepare for the following school year. They will revise the wellness policy when needed to meet the Federal and State mandates for nutrition and physical activity. • Committee members may include, but not limited to, parents, students, teachers, school board members and school administration. • The public will be notified two times throughout the year that their participation in permitted on the LWP committee. • Parents will be notified to any changes to the Local Wellness Policy through a letter mailed to each household. Leadership: • The food service staff will ensure compliance with nutrition policies within the school food service areas and report to the Head Teacher. • The Head Teacher will convene the wellness committee and lead the meetings. • The Head Teacher will report to the School Board the state of the district to ensure successful implementation of the YESD wellness policy. Resources will be available on the district website at www.yuccaschool.com. Triennial Progress Assessments: • Every third year the wellness committee will meet and conduct an assessment of the wellness policy. • The current wellness policy will be compared to the Alliance for Healthier Generations model. Changes will be made as deemed necessary. • A report on the progress for attaining the goals for the LWP will be presented to the Board at a regular meeting. Adopted by the Yucca Elementary School Board on October 9, 2019.
