Wellness Policy – Concordia Charter School

Click here for the pdf of our Local Wellness Policy SY2018

Review of the policy occurs May-June. Our advisory board meeting dates will be posted shortly!

Concordia Charter School is committed to providing a school environment that promotes and protects children’s health, well-being, and ability to learn by supporting healthy living, nutrition and adequate physical activity.
Concordia Charter School recognizes that children need access to healthful foods and opportunities to be physically active in order to grow, learn, and thrive. We also know that good health fosters increased student attendance and involvement in education. We recognize that many of our students may be at-risk for a number of diseases later in life because of unhealthy eating habits, physical inactivity and obesity, and environmental circumstances. We also believe that education and modeling are the best methods of changing behavior and recognize the importance of involving all stakeholders, including teachers and staff, students and parents, health professionals and community partners, in this process.

Concordia will engage students, parents, teachers, food service professionals, health professionals, and other community members in developing, implementing, monitoring, and reviewing healthy living, nutrition and physical activity policies.
All students in grades K-6 will have ample opportunities to gain physical and behavioral skills, and build confidence to be physically active.
Foods and beverages served at school will meet the nutrition recommendations of the U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans and as outlined by MyPlate.gov.
Concordia will provide students with access to a variety of affordable, nutritious, and appealing foods that meet the health and nutrition needs of students; will accommodate the religious, ethnic, and cultural diversity of the student body in meal planning; and will provide clean, safe, and pleasant settings and adequate time for students to eat.
Concordia will participate in available federal school meal programs (including the School Breakfast Program, National School Lunch Program, Summer Food Service Program and Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Snack Program)
Concordia will provide nutrition education and promotion, and physical education to foster lifelong habits of healthy eating, physical activity and whole wellness.

TO ACHIEVE THESE POLICY GOALS:

School Meals. Meals served through the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs will:

be appealing and attractive to children;
be served in clean and pleasant settings;
be in compliance with all federal and state nutrition guidelines, specifically as defined in the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010;
offer a variety of fruits and vegetables;
serve only low-fat (1%) and fat-free milk and nutritionally-equivalent non-dairy alternatives (to be defined by USDA);
ensure that half of the served grains are whole grain.
Follow AZ Nutrition Standards as applicable

Nutrition Education and Promotion. Concordia aims to teach, encourage, and support healthy eating by students. The school will provide nutrition education and engage in nutrition promotion that:

is offered at each grade level as part of a sequential, comprehensive, standards-based program designed to provide students with the knowledge and skills necessary to promote and protect their health;
is part of not only nutrition education classes, but also classroom instruction in subjects such as math, science, language arts, social sciences, and elective subjects;
includes enjoyable, developmentally-appropriate, culturally-relevant, participatory activities, such as contests, promotions, taste testing, farm visits, and school gardens;
promotes fruits, vegetables, whole grain products, low-fat and fat-free dairy products, healthy food preparation methods, and health-enhancing nutrition practices (i.e. posters/displays, FFVP)
links with school meal programs, Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP), and nutrition-
related community services;

Fundraising Activities. To support children’s health and school nutrition-education efforts, school fundraising activities will not involve food or will use only foods that meet state and federal nutrition standards. The school will encourage fundraising activities that promote physical activity. Vending machines, A la carte items, concession stands, etc are not used on campus.

Rewards. The school will avoid using foods or beverages, especially those that do not meet state and federal nutrition standards as rewards for academic performance or good behavior, and will not withhold food or beverages (including food served through school meals) as a punishment.

Celebrations. The school will limit celebrations that involve food during the school day to no more than one party per class per month, and they should include healthy food choices. The school will disseminate a list of healthy party ideas to teachers. Student birthday celebrations involving food are not allowed.

Daily Recess. Students will have at least 20 minutes a day of supervised recess, preferably outdoors, with moderate to vigorous physical activity encouraged verbally and through the provision of space and equipment. Understanding that water is vital to a healthy body and mind, fresh water will be available to all students during recess and throughout the school day.

Integrating Physical Activity into the Classroom Setting. Teachers will provide short physical activity breaks between lessons, as appropriate, and opportunities for physical activity will be incorporated into other subject lessons.

Physical Activity and Punishment. Teachers and other school and community personnel will not use physical activity (e.g., running laps, pushups) or withhold opportunities for physical activity (e.g., recess, physical education) as punishment.

Communication with Parents: The school will support parents’ efforts to provide a healthy diet and daily physical activity for their children. The school will offer healthy eating information for parents through our Family Night programs. We will send home nutrition information to the families. We will encourage parents to pack healthy lunches and snacks and ask parents not to include beverages and foods that do not meet the nutrition standards. The school will provide parents a list of healthy lunch foods and snack ideas.

The school will provide information about physical education to parents in an effort to help their children become physically active outside of school.

Staff Wellness: Concordia Charter School values the health and well-being of every staff member. The school will establish a staff wellness committee that will promote health and wellness. The activities will include ways to encourage healthy eating, physical activity, and other elements of a healthy lifestyle among school staff. Teachers will model nutrition education by eating FFVP snacks with their students and limiting the consumption of unhealthy foods or drinks while on campus.

Monitoring and Policy Review

Monitoring. The site director or designee will ensure compliance with the nutrition and physical activity wellness policies. They will ensure compliance with the policies in the school and will report on the school’s compliance to the school board annually.

School food service staff members will ensure compliance with all nutrition policies and will report to the site director as needed. The school will report on the most recent USDA School Meals Initiative (SMI) review findings and any resulting changes. The site director will report on the school’s compliance to the school board annually.

Policy Review. Assessments by the School Advisory Health Council (made up of staff, parents and community partners) will be repeated every year to assess progress, review compliance and determine areas in need of improvement. Revisions to the wellness and nutrition policies will be made as necessary.

In accordance with Federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, its Agencies, offices, and employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, sex, disability, age, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA.

Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.) should contact the Agency (State or local) where they applied for benefits. Individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing or have speech disabilities may contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339. Additionally, program information may be made available in languages other than English.

To file a program complaint of discrimination, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, AD-3027, found online athttp://www.ascr.usda.gov/complaint_filing_cust.html, and at any USDA office, or write a letter addressed to USDA and provide in the letter all of the information requested in the form. To request a copy of the complaint form, call (866) 632-9992. Submit your completed form or letter to USDA by: (1) mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; (2) fax: (202) 690-7442; or (3) email: program.intake@usda.gov.

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.