District Wellness Program

The primary goals of the Holden R-III School District’s wellness program are to promote student health, reduce student overweight/obesity, facilitate student learning of lifelong healthy habits and increase student achievement.  The following procedures will guide the implementation of the district wellness program.

Nutrition Guidelines

School Meals- The district’s food service program will engage students, through taste tests of new entrees, and in selecting foods sold through the school meal programs.  This procedure will be used to identify new, healthful and appealing food choices.  The district will share information about the nutritional content of meals with parents and students on request.

Fundraisers – To support children’s health and school nutrition-education efforts, schools will encourage fundraising activities that promote physical activity. 

Snacks- Snacks served during the school day, in after school care or enrichment programs will make a positive contribution to children’s diets and health with an emphasis on serving fruit and vegetables as the primary snacks and milk/water as the primary beverage. 

Celebrations/Rewards – On occasion schools have celebrations and reward parties.  These celebrations will strive to have nutritious snacks.  The use of non-nutritious rewards will be limited.

Daily Recess – All elementary school students will have at least 20 minutes per day of supervised recess.  During recess, moderate to vigorous physical activity will be encouraged.   Additional time for recess will be added when possible.  If possible, withholding recess will not be used as a form of punishment.

Physical Activity Opportunities Before and After school – The district encourages all elementary/intermediate students to participate in extracurricular programs including Track Nights.  All middle school and high school students are encouraged to participate in activities that meet their needs, interests and abilities.  After school child care and enrichment programs will provide and encourage periods of moderate to vigorous physical activity.

Use of School Facilities Outside School Hours – All school facilities (ex., track, playground, baseball and football practice field) may be available to students, staff and community members before and after the school day, practices on weekends and during school vacations.  Refer to Community Use of School Facilities Board Policy.

Community Involvement – School staff will collaborate with agencies and groups conducting nutritional education in the community to send consistent messages to students and their families. 

Family Involvement – The district will strive to engage families as partners in their children’s education by supporting parental efforts to motivate and help their children with maintaining and improving their health, preventing disease and avoiding health-related risk behaviors.  Strategies that may be used may include but are not limited to:

• Handouts and meetings
• Elementary Track Nights
• Health Fairs

Marketing – Food and Beverage marketing will be limited to the promotion of foods and beverages that meet the nutrition standards adopted by the board.

Meal Times and Scheduling – Schools will:

• Strive to provide students with at least ten minutes to eat after sitting down for breakfast and 20 minutes after sitting down for lunch.
• Provide student access to hand-washing or hand-sanitizing before meals and snacks.
• Take reasonable steps to accommodate tooth brushing regimens of students with special oral health needs.

Staff Development and Training – The Holden R-III School District will strive to provide opportunities for all staff for professional development and training related to all areas of student wellness.

Staff Wellness – The Holden R-III School District highly values the health and wellness of every staff member and will plan and implement activities and policies that support personal efforts by staff to maintain a healthy lifestyle.  The district will offer staff wellness programs that include nutrition education and achieving and maintaining a healthy body weight.  The district will establish and maintain a wellness committee. 

Oversight and Evaluation – The wellness program coordinators are responsible for monitoring the district wellness program.  The coordinators are responsible for an annual report to the Board of Education.

Compliance Indicators –

• K-8 Physical fitness Reports
• Height and weight status for students K-12
• Healthy food items in vending machines

Policy Review – The wellness program coordinators will provide policy revision recommendations to the Board of Education.  The Board will revise the wellness policy as it deems necessary.  Administrative procedures will be revised accordingly.

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