Wellness Policy for Kihei Charter School
The Kihei Charter School Board of Education is committed to creating a healthy school environment that enhances the development of lifelong wellness practices to promote healthy eating and physical activities that support student achievement and personal satisfaction.
Nutrition Education
Nutrition education, a component of comprehensive health education, shall be offered to all students of the Kihei Charter School. Nutrition education that teaches the knowledge, skills, and values needed to adopt healthy eating behaviors shall be integrated into the curriculum when appropriate. Nutrition education information shall be offered throughout the school including, but not limited to, school dining areas and classrooms. Staff members who provide nutrition education shall have appropriate training as needed. The school shall implement a quality nutrition education program that addresses the following:
Curriculum:
- Has a curriculum aligned with the Hawaii Health Education Content Standards and Benchmarks
- Equips students to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to engage in sound nutrition behavior.
- Instruction and Assessment:
- Aligns curriculum, instruction, and assessment
- Builds students’ confidence and competence in making healthy nutrition choices
- Engages students in learning that prepares them to choose a healthy diet
- Includes students of all abilities
- Is taught by “highly qualified” teachers of health education.”
Opportunity to Learn:
- Includes students of all abilities
- Provides instructional time to build students’ confidence and competence in health-enhancing skills.
Nutrition education should also be made available to parents/guardians and the community. This nutrition education may be provided in the form of handouts, wall or bulletin board posters or banners, postings on the school’s website, community and student oriented presentations or other communications focused on promoting proper nutrition and healthy lifestyles.
Nutrition Standards
The school ensures that reimbursable school meals meet the program requirements and nutrition standards found in federal regulations. The school encourages students to make nutritious food choices. The school monitors all food and beverages sold or served to students, including those available outside the federally regulated child nutrition program. The district considers nutrient density and portion size before permitting food and beverages to be sold or served to students. The school’s administration continually evaluates vending policies and contracts. Vending contracts that do not meet the intent and purpose of this policy shall be modified accordingly or not renewed.
The school offers meal programs with menus meeting the meal patterns and nutrition standards established by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The school encourages students to make food choices based on the most current Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Food and beverages that compete with the school’s policy of promoting a healthy school environment are discouraged.
Each Academy program in the school offers and promotes the following food and beverages in all venues outside federally regulated child nutrition programs:
- Whole and enriched grain products that are high in fiber, low in added fats and sugars, and served in appropriate portion sizes consistent with the current USDA standards
- Fresh, frozen, canned or dried fruits and vegetables using healthy food preparation techniques, and 100 percent fruit or vegetable juice in 12-ounce servings or less. A priority on serving fresh fruit and vegetables will always be given
- Nuts, nut butters, seeds, trail mix, and/or soybean snacks in one-ounce portions or less; portions of three ounces or less of cooked lean meat, poultry, or fish using healthy food preparation techniques
- Accompaniments (sauces, dressings, and dips), if offered, in one-ounce servings or less.
The school monitors food service distributors and snack vendors to ensure that they provide predominantly healthy food and beverage choices that comply with this policy’s purpose in all academies. The school discourages using food as a reward.
The school encourages serving healthy food at school parties. Notices shall be sent to parents/guardians either separately or as part of a school newsletter, reminding them of the necessity of providing healthy treats for students and/or encouraging the use of non-food treats for classroom birthday or award celebrations.
The school shall encourage healthy fundraisers as alternatives to fundraising that involve selling food items of limited nutritional value, such as candy, cupcakes, or sugary beverages. Example: Sales of candy items (candy bars, sugar coated chocolate snacks, or the like) as a school or grade-level fundraising project should be replaced with non-food items such as candles, wrapping paper, greeting cards, etc.
Physical Education and Physical Activity Opportunities
The school offers physical education opportunities that include the components of a quality physical education program. Physical education equips students with the knowledge, skills, and values necessary for lifelong physical activity. Physical education instruction is aligned with the Hawaii Physical Education Content Standards and Benchmarks. All students, K-12, have the opportunity to participate in regular physical activities, either organized or unstructured, intended to maintain physical fitness and to understand the short- and long-term benefits of a physically active and healthy lifestyle. Developmentally appropriate physical education is offered every year to all students of the school. In addition, physical education topics are integrated into the entire curriculum when appropriate. The school implements a quality physical education program that addresses the following:
Curriculum:
- Has a curriculum aligned with the Hawaii Physical Education Content Standards and Benchmarks
- Equips students with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary for lifelong physical activity
- Influences personal and social skill development.
Instruction and Assessment:
- Aligns curriculum, instruction, and assessment
- Builds students’ confidence and competence in physical abilities
- Engages students in curriculum choices that prepare them for a wide variety of lifetime activities
- Includes students of all abilities
- Is taught by a certified physical education teacher trained in best practice physical education methods
- Keeps all students involved in purposeful activity for a majority of the class period.
Opportunity to Learn:
- Builds students’ confidence and competence in physical abilities
- Has a teacher-to-student ratio consistent with those of other subject areas and/or classrooms
- Includes students of all abilities.
The school offers opportunities for unstructured physical activity, commonly referred to as recess, for all students K through grade 5. Recess is in addition to physical education class time and not a substitute for physical education.
Other School-Based Activities Designed to Promote Student Wellness
The school strives to create a healthy school environment that promotes healthy eating and physical activity. In order to create this environment, the following activities shall be implemented:
Dining Environment - The school shall provide:
- A clean, safe, enjoyable meal environment for students
- Enough space/serving areas to ensure all students have access to school meals with minimum wait time
- drinking fountains in all schools, so that students can get water at meals and throughout the day
- Encouragement to maximize student participation in school meal programs
- Identify protection of students who eat free and reduced-price meals.
Time to eat - The school shall ensure:
- Adequate time for students to enjoy eating healthy foods with friends in schools
- That lunch time is scheduled as near to the middle of the school day as possible, and
Food or Physical Activity as a Reward or Punishment - The school shall:
- Prohibit the use of food as a reward or punishment in schools
- Not deny student participation in recess or other physical activities as a form of discipline or for classroom make-up time
- Not use physical activity as a punishment
- Encourage the use of physical activity as a reward, such as teacher/staff walking or playing with students at recess.
Consistent School Activities and Environment - The school shall:
- Ensure that school fundraising efforts support healthy eating and physical activity
- Provide opportunities for on-going professional training and development for food service staff and teachers in the areas of nutrition and physical education
- Encourage parents/guardians, teachers, school administrators, students, food service professionals, and community members to serve as role models in practicing healthy eating and being physically active, both in school and at home
- Provide information and outreach materials about other Food and Nutrition Service programs such as Food Stamps, and Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) to students and parents/guardians
Administrative Rules - Kihei Charter School’s Wellness Policy
In order to enact and enforce KCS’s Local Wellness Policy, the administrative team will follow the administrative rules as outlined in this policy. To assist in maintenance of a healthy school environment, the School shall establish a Coordinated School Health Committee (CSHC) that will provide an annual review and evaluation of the KCS Local Wellness Policy and these administrative rules. CSHC members should be comprised of teachers (including specialists in health and physical education), parents/guardians, and students, representatives of the school food service program, school board members, school administrators, and the public. The school administration shall report to the local school board, as requested, on the school’s programs and efforts to meet the purpose and intent of this policy.
Staff shall be reminded that healthy students come in all shapes and sizes. Students should receive consistent messages and support for:
• Self- respect.
• Respect for others.
• Healthy eating.
• Physical activity