Jeffco Healthy Schools

School-Level Wellness Policy Implementation Supports

In this document you will find sample school wellness policy language and ideas aligning to the Jeffco District Wellness Policy and Guidelines.  

*Language Translation is available upon request- We want all families to access this information*

Table of Contents Linked to Each Section

Recess Minutes

Withholding Recess/PE

Birthdays

Birthday Ideas and Examples from Jeffco Students and Schools

Sample Birthday School Newsletter Language

School-Level Birthday Policy Example

Rewards

School Celebrations

Fundraising

Snacks

Allergy Policy

Family Friendly Worksite

Recess Minutes

School Policy Sample Recess Language

Beginning the 20XX-XX school year, all students at ______________  will have two recess periods daily. The total daily recess time will be _______ minutes. This change reflects the Jeffco Recess Guidelines and supports the learning and health of our students.

The research strongly shows that students who are active learn better. Recess benefits students by:

➤ Increasing their level of physical activity.

➤ Improving their memory, attention, and concentration, which can especially help children with ADHD and others who struggle to focus.

➤ Helping them stay on-task in the classroom.

➤ Reducing disruptive behavior in the classroom

➤ Improving their social and emotional development (e.g., learning how to share, cooperate and problem-solve.)

To learn more about the Jeffco Recess Guidelines and the importance of recess, please view the guidelines here.  

Family Newsletter Sample Recess Language

Beginning the 20XX-XX school year, all students at ______________  will have two recess periods daily. The total daily recess time will be ___ minutes. This change reflects the Jeffco Recess Guidelines and supports the learning and health of our students. The research strongly shows that students who are active learn better.

Recess benefits students by:

➤ Increasing their level of physical activity.

➤ Improving their memory, attention, and concentration (especially for those students with ADHD or difficulties focusing).

➤ Helping them stay on-task in the classroom.

➤ Reducing disruptive behavior in the classroom

➤ Improving their social and emotional development (e.g., learning how to share, cooperate and problem-solve.)

We will follow the weather watch guidelines for safe outdoor temperatures and will take students outdoors whenever it is safe to do so. Please bring daily the necessary clothing for your children to spend time outdoors. To learn more about the Jeffco Recess Guidelines and the importance of recess, please view the guidelines here.  

Withholding Recess/PE

School Sample Policy

At our school, we recognize the importance of movement in academics, and that recess may be a child’s only chance to achieve daily physical activity. Therefore, we do not allow withholding recess as a form of punishment. We ask that our teachers create alternate reward systems that may then be withheld when discipline is needed.

Birthdays 

District Policy

Starting at the beginning of the 2018/19 school year, student birthdays should only be recognized with non-food celebrations.  Many schools already have similar policies in place. Schools should clearly communicate these standards with families and consider engaging parent groups (PTA, SAC, etc),

• This standard is in place to limit exposure to life-threatening allergens, increase equity related to food sharing, and protect family decision-making around foods consumed. 
• This does not apply to food for individual consumption.

Birthday informational flyers (created by Jeffco Healthy Schools)

• English PDF
• Spanish PDF

Sample Birthday School Newsletter Language

Update and include in school newsletters:

School-Level Birthday Policy Example

 (Adapted from Blue Heron’s Handbook)

One of the milestones each year for your child is celebrating their birthday.  In order to support student growth and to celebrate student birthdays in a manner that is positive for all students, does not establish hardships for families, eliminates concerns related to student health matters, and aligns with our District's Wellness Policy, Blue Heron Elementary has chosen to celebrate birthdays in a non-food manner and has established the following guidelines for student birthdays: As part of our nutritional food guidelines, food treats for birthdays are not allowed in the classroom. Additionally, birthday parties and invitations to private parties are not permitted.  

Blue Heron will honor your child on their special day by:

• Announcing student birthdays over the intercom.
• Allowing students to visit the front office and receive a birthday card along with an item from the Birthday Gift Box (i.e. free day pass to various activities, school pencil, sticker, bookmark, etc.)
• Recognizing all student birthdays during the school year (including birthdays during holidays, weekends, breaks, etc.).
• Honoring children in the classroom in other ways (i.e. special helper, birthday crown, songs, etc.)
  

Additional suggestions for honoring your child’s birthday at school:

• Donate a book to the school library or classroom in honor of your child’s birthday.  The Blue Heron Library Birthday Book Club offers you the opportunity to enhance our library collection in honor of your child’s special day.  Each book donated will have a dedication plate with your child’s name and birthday.
• Parents are welcome to join their child for lunch at school in the cafeteria; however, please do not bring meals or treats for other students to celebrate the occasion.
• Donate a ball or jump rope to the school for recess.

We appreciate your support and understanding as we continue to reflect on how to provide all students with a safe and healthy environment. We welcome any suggestions for simple, yet meaningful ways to recognize your child’s birthday.

Other resources:

• Access resources from Action for Healthy Kids including ideas, sample family letters, etc.
• Resources on Healthy Birthdays from RMC Health.
• Family and Classroom Wellness Policy handout in English and Spanish

Rewards

District Policy: Schools will not use food or beverages as rewards for academic performance or good behavior*

• *Exemptions are allowed for individual students based on the approval of school leadership
• Schools are asked to consider other options, such as additional recess, a classroom game, sitting next to a friend, etc. Resource with ideas HERE.

School Sample Policy

Food/candy may not be used as a reward in any Jeffco School. We ask that teachers develop reward systems that work for their classroom, support their students and the culture of wellness we are establishing in our school. Rewarding good behavior with food/candy is not allowed in our school for many reasons:

1. Giving out food as reward teaches children to eat when they are not hungry, and can cause life-long associations between food and behavior.

2. It undermines nutrition education being taught in school.

3. Rewards and bribes focused around food ultimately do not help children develop healthy attitudes towards food.

4. When children are rewarded with food, they unfortunately associate “junk” food with being good or feeling happy.

5. Associating food with good or bad behavior may have long-lasting effects on students’ food preferences and eating style.

We ask our teachers to use these or other non-food items as rewards:

• Listen to music while working

• Sit by friends

• Have the teacher read a book to the class

• Earn a dance party

• Earn exercise sessions on the X-box or Wii (if applicable)

• Have lunch or breakfast in the classroom

• Read outdoors

• Teach the class

• Enjoy extra art time

• Make deliveries to the office

• Have class outdoors

• Get a “no homework “ pass

• Earn an extra recess

• Sit by friends

• Read to a younger class

• Listen to an audio book

• Have a teacher perform (sing or play an instrument)

• Take a trip to the treasure box (filled with stickers, pencils, tattoos, bookmarks, etc.)

• Choose one student from each class to walk with the principal at lunch

School Celebrations 

District Policy

At least half of the foods provided to students during holiday celebrations will meet a definition for healthier options.

• Schools must follow these district definitions OR determine their own definitions.  If a school determines their own definition they must consider student food allergies, religious exemptions and dietary needs, and maintain definition for auditing purposes.
• Shared Food Wellness Policy Infographic

School Sample Policy 

(From Shaffer’s Student Handbook):  

By agreement between the School Community and staff, Shaffer sponsors three parties during the school day each year, a Halloween Party with Parade, a Winter Holiday Party, and a Valentine’s Day Party. In addition to traditional snacks, we now offer healthy snacks during the parties. We respect the beliefs and cultures of all. The purpose of the class celebrations is to acknowledge and appropriately celebrate events that are widely seen throughout our community. These events are no longer than one hour in duration, and are not religious.

Additional handouts, links and tips:

• Healthy Celebration Family Handout (English and Spanish)
• Shared Food Policy Handout
• Sample Party Food Family Sign Up Sheet
• Healthy Halloween Ideas
• Healthier Food Options
• Healthy Celebration Photo Sharing and Ideas (add more ideas here!)
• If the party is NOT over a meal time (like breakfast or lunch) avoid large portions, and try to make the focus of the party something fun, like games and physical activity, rather than food.

• Party Food Ideas

· Fresh fruits

· Fruit and cheese kabobs

· Fruit salads

· Fresh vegetables with dip, cheese spreads & peanut butter (except nut-free classrooms)

· Cheese cubes, string cheese, cheese slices and spreads

· Whole-grain crackers & cheese

· Whole grain chips & hummus

· Dried fruit (raisins, cranberries, apricots, banana chips etc.)

· Goldfish crackers, regular varieties or natural colors

· Low-fat popcorn

· Tortilla roll-ups with cream cheese, fresh veggies & fruits

· Whole grain waffles or pancakes topped with fruit

· English muffins with toppings - whole fruit spreads, cheeses or pizza

· Pizza with low-fat toppings (veggies, lean ham, canadian bacon, pineapple)

· Pizza dippers (bread-sticks and pizza toppings on skewer with marinara)

· Turkey or ham & cheese sandwiches or wraps

· Quesadillas with salsa, guacamole

· Bean burritos

· All natural cereal bars

· Trail mixes (except nut-free classrooms)

· Cereal mixes, low sugar varieties

· Nuts and seeds (except nut-free classrooms)

· Pretzels or pretzel mix with raisins, craisins & other dried fruits

· Tortilla chips with salsa or bean dip

· Bagel slices with cream cheese or peanut butter (except nut-free classrooms)

· Popcorn and popcorn balls

· Graham crackers & animal crackers

· Rice cakes, corn thins with whole fruit spreads or cream cheese

· 100% fruit strips & fruit snacks

· Fig newtons

District Policy

The USDA requires food fundraisers to meet Smart Snacks in Schools Standards, but allows exemptions.

• Schools may have up to three exempt fundraisers.
• Each exempt fundraiser may last up to ten days; these ten days may be non-consecutive.

• Nutrition information (label/ingredient list) for all foods sold as fundraisers must be documented and kept at the school site.
• Records of exempt fundraisers will be required to meet auditing needs.
• Food fundraisers (that meet the standards or are exempt) may be sold on the school campus during the school day EXCEPT during the meal service, and for a period beginning ½ hour prior to and until ½ hour after each meal service (Competitive Foods Law).
• Pre-ordered foods that are not intended for immediate consumption (such as Girl Scout Cookies) are excluded.
• Foods sold only to adults are excluded.

School Sample Policy 

While fundraisers are a wonderful way to raise money for our school, we  want to promote healthy habits to our children and our school community. Therefore, we only allow three unhealthy fundraisers a year, per USDA rule. Please consider the following ideas as alternatives, understanding that many can raise as much or more money as unhealthy food.

Click here  for Complete Fundraising Rule Information and Ideas

Snacks 

Please note: there is no district policy regarding individual snacks.  

School Sample Policy

Shelton:  

Blue Heron: Research clearly demonstrates that good nutrition is linked to better academic performance and behavior.  To provide the best possible learning environment for children, Blue Heron has established a suggested list of nutritious snack ideas for your child during the school day. Please do not send cookies, candy, fried chips, cupcakes, soda, energy drinks, or any foods of minimal nutritional value for snack time.  Thank you for your cooperation!

Recommended Snack List

• Fresh fruits & vegetables (grapes; orange and apple slices; bananas; carrot cucumber, celery slices; cauliflower, broccoli, sugar peas, etc)
• Canned fruit (in juice/no sugar liquid)
• Dried fruit
• Whole grain crackers
• Baked chips
• Pretzels
• Applesauce
• Cheese cubes, slices & string cheese
• Whole Grain Goldfish crackers, regular or natural colors
• Low-fat Popcorn
• Low-fat yogurt (no sugar varieties)
• Nuts (except in nut-free schools/classrooms)
• Peanut butter on carrots, apples or celery.
• Cottage Cheese
• Hardboiled egg (must be already peeled)
• Dry cereal, no/low sugar varieties
• Veggie chips (baked)
• 100% fruit strips
• 100% whole grain fruit muffins
• Whole grain bagels with cream cheese
• Dried fruits mixed with nuts & seeds (except in nut-free schools/classrooms)
• Rice cakes & corn thins

When shopping, let children help pick out fruits, vegetables, and cheeses for snacks. They will be more interested in eating these foods if they have been involved in selecting them.

Keeping Budget in Mind!  According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the average cost of a serving of fruit or vegetable (all types – fresh, frozen, and canned) is 25 cents per serving. This is a good deal compared with a 69-cent single-serve bag of potato chips or an 80-cent candy bar. Tip sheet: save money and shop healthy

Allergy Policy

Jeffco Allergy Policy

Consult this resource before bringing ANY food into the school/classroom.

Schools with students who are impacted by life-threatening allergies should follow the guidance in the Jeffco Allergy Handbook. In summary, the guidelines include:

• No food sharing from student to student from lunch and snacks or on field trips (except if there is an official food sharing table in the cafeteria).
• Provide 48 hour notice to all families via email about foods being provided at school outside of the meal program, informing the families of what foods will be brought.
• If life threatening allergy is present, the food may not be served at celebrations or parties.
• Ensure students are washing hands after snacks and lunch and upon entering classroom if a known life-threatening allergy is present in the classroom.
• Utilize signage from the handbook to create common messaging about allergies across the district

Family Friendly Worksite

·         Please see the Jeffco Family Friendly Worksites Resource

In accordance with Federal and Colorado Law, all employers, including schools, must:

• Provide reasonable, unpaid break time or allowing an employee to use paid break and/or meal time to express breast milk for their nursing child for up to 2 years after the child’s birth.  Typical time needs are 20-30 minutes every 2-3 hours away from baby.
• Make reasonable efforts to provide a nursing employee with a private location in close proximity to thier work area (other than a toilet stall) in which to express milk. Area needs lock or privacy signage, seating and power.
• Not discriminate against women for expressing milk in the workplace.
• This includes all staff and substitute teachers as well.
• Legal reference: Colorado Workplace Accommodations for Nursing Mothers Act, §8-13.5-101 C.R.S.

Break time use:  Staff may use designated breaks for milk expression.  This shall reflect Jeffco Schools policy, based on job position.  

School Sample Policy

School Name provides a supportive environment for employees and/or volunteers to breastfeed or pump during school and work hours.  School Name will provide reasonable unpaid break time or permission for an employee to use paid break time, meal time or both, each day to allow the employee to express breast milk, in a private setting, for thier nursing child for up to two (2) years after the child’s birth.

This support includes the following:

·         Milk Expression Breaks - Breastfeeding employees will be permitted to express their milk during regularly scheduled breaks and meal times. They will be allowed to extend their work day to compensate for any milk expression breaks that go beyond regularly scheduled breaks and meal times. If they choose, employees may go off campus during regularly scheduled breaks and meal times to breastfeed infants attending day care programs in the area.

Lactation Room – School Name provides a shared name of space (lactation room/quiet room, etc.) in the identify the area with a locking door and blinds on the window. This space has priority for expressing milk during posted times. This space has access to power and seating; the adjacent shared refrigerator may be used for storing milk in clearly labelled containers. Employees interested in using this space for expressing milk will coordinate with Name of person coordinating the space to schedule appropriate and consistent times for expressing milk, and the Name of coordinator or person responsible will post those times when the room will be reserved for expressing milk.

 Support - It is expected that all employees will assist in providing a positive atmosphere of support for breastfeeding employees.

·      

Breastfeeding employees are responsible for keeping the shared Lactation Room clean for the next user, and should label all milk expressed with name and date expressed. Each employee/volunteer is responsible for proper storage of their milk using the identify the storage space/refrigerator, etc that will be used for storage of expressed milk.

Additional Resources:

• Lactation Room “Do not Disturb” sign
• Lactation Priority Space sign
• Return to work tips and maternity leaves info
• Making it Work Toolkit

For local support setting up your space, including ideas and possible funding, contact Jeffco Public Health:  Allison Wilson awilson@co.jefferson.co.us