To implement the Wellness Policy, the following district specific goals have been established:
Goal 1 - Nutrition Education & Promotion: Schools will provide nutrition education and engage in nutrition promotion that help students develop lifelong healthy eating behaviors. The goals(s) for addressing nutrition education and nutrition promotion include the following:
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Provide students with the knowledge and skills necessary to promote and protect their health;
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Emphasize caloric balance between food intake and energy expenditure (promotes physical activity/exercise.
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Promote fruits, vegetables, whole grain products, low-fat and fat-free dairy products and healthy foods
Goal 2 - Physical Activity: Schools will provide students and staff with age and grade appropriate opportunities to engage in physical activity that meet federal and state guidelines, including the Iowa Healthy Kids Act. The goals(s) for addressing physical activity include the following:
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Promote the benefits of a physically active lifestyle and help students develop skills to engage in lifelong healthy habits;
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Engage students in moderate to vigorous activity during at least 50 percent of physical education class time;
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Encourage classroom teachers to provide short physical activity breaks (3-5 minutes), as appropriate;
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Ensure physical activity is not used for or withheld as punishment;
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Afford elementary students with recess according to the following:
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At least 20 minutes a day;
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Outdoors as weather and time permits
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Encourages moderate to vigorous physical activity; and
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Scheduled to avoid extended periods of inactivity (ie periods of 2 hours or more)
Goal 3 - Other School-Based Activities that Promote Student Wellness: Schools will support student, staff and parents’ efforts to maintain a healthy lifestyle, as appropriate. The goals(s) for addressing other school-based activities that promote student wellness include the following:
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Develop a plan to promote staff health & wellness
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Permit students to bring and carry water bottles filled with water throughout the day
Public Involvement: There is a process for permitting parents, students, representatives of the school food authority, teachers of physical education, school health professionals, the school board, administrators and the public to participate in the development, implementation and periodic review and update of the policy:
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The superintendent or superintendent’s designee invites suggestions or comments concerning the development, implementation and improvement of the school wellness policy. As such, interested persons are encouraged to contact the superintendent or superintendent’s designee.
NOTE: School districts are required by federal law to have at least one specific wellness goal in each of the goal areas identified above. These goals areas include the following: nutrition promotion and education, physical activity and other school-based activities that promote student wellness. Options have been provided, but districts must remember the sample policy and sample regulation cannot be adopted in the current format. School boards and administration must make a choice for all text in italicized brackets.
NOTE: The Iowa Department of Education has tools and resources available to help with progress reports and other aspects of policy implementation and review. Please visit the School Wellness Policy webpage.
Approved: 07/15/15 Reviewed: 10/20/2021 Revised: 04/19/2023
