USDA’s website – www.usda.gov

CORPUS CHRISTI SCHOOL
NUTRITION, WELLNESS, AND FITNESS POLICY
2016-2019

The Catholic Schools of the Diocese of Evansville are committed to providing a school environment that promotes and protects children’s health, well-being, and ability to learn, by supporting healthy eating and physical activity. Therefore, it is the policy of the Catholic Schools in the Diocese of Evansville that:

 The school will engage students, parents, teachers, food service staff, health professionals, and other interested community members in developing, implementing, monitoring, and reviewing school nutrition and physical activity policies.

 All students in grades PK-8 will have opportunities, support, and encouragement to be physically active on a regular basis.

 Foods and beverages sold or served at school will meet the nutrition recommendations of the U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

 Staff will provide students with access to a variety of affordable, nutritious, and appealing foods that meet the health and nutrition needs of students, and will provide clean, safe, and pleasant settings and adequate time for students to eat.

 Schools will provide nutrition education and physical education to foster lifelong habits of healthy eating and physical activity, and will establish linkages between health education and school meal programs, and with related community services.

The Catholic Schools of Diocese of Evansville will continue to implement and annually update this policy for heath and wellness of all students.

The Health and Wellness Policy includes the following elements each addressed with specific goals:

I.  Wellness Committee.

The Catholic Schools in the Diocese of Evansville will each form a Wellness committee to serve a a resource to develop, implement, monitor, review and revise school nutrition and physical activity policies

The Wellness Committee will meet at a minimum twice Twice annually with an agenda and minutes to kept at the school level

The Wellness Committee will consist of individuals from the following area:

School Administrator

Faculty/Staff

Student(s)

Parent(s) or School Board Member

Cafeteria or Child Nutrition Manager

Health Care/Nutritionist/Certified Dietitian Professional

II USDA Requirements for School Meals

The School breakfast and lunch programs in the schools in the Catholic Diocese of Evansville will:

Meet at minimum, nutrition requirements established by USDA for federally funded programs, as found on the USDA website a https://www.fns.usda.gov/school-meals/nutrition-standards-school-meals

Provide access to and emphasis on high quality foods and beverages, such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy products and water.

By appealing and attractive to students.

Be served in clean and pleasant surroundings.

Provide students with adequate time to eat (the School Nutrition Association recommends at least twenty minutes for lunch)

Promote school meal participation with taste tests, contests, etc., and make available a nutritional analysis of menu items.

Parents will be provided information regarding eligibility and application for participation in the free/reduced price meals.

III Nutritional Guidelines for All Food and Beverages Sold

Food and beverages sold outside of the Child Nutrition Program, including a la’ carte and vending machine items, will be approved by either the school’s Food Service Director or the School Wellness Committee, and will meet the following guidelines:

Beverages

Water (flavored and non-calorie sweeteners)

Fruit and vegetable juices.

Fruit based drinks containing at least 50% fruit juice,

Low-fat unflavored or fat-free flavored fluid milk,

Sports drinks (middle and high schools only)

Foods

Individual food items must meet USDA Smart Snack Standards, which can be accessed at:  https://www.fns.usda.gov/healthierschoolday/tools-schools-focusing-smart-snacks

Elementary and Middle Schools (Grades Preschool-8)

Vending machines dispensing either food or beverages are not accessible to students Preschool-8

Sale of food and/or beverages containing caffeine or non-nutritive sweeteners is prohibited during the day.

High Schools (Grades 9 – 12)

At least 50% of all foods and beverages sold outside the reimbursable school meal programs during the school day will meet the nutritional guidelines above

Sale of goods and/or beverages containing non-nutritive sweeteners is prohibited during the school day.

Vending machines dispensing either food or beverages are not accessible to students in grades 9 – 12

Fundraising

50% of the school fundraising activities will not involve food.

Two exemptions, each exemption lasting on day in duration only, are allowed during the school year if approved by the School Wellness Committee.

School-Sponsored Events (Such as, but not limited to, Athletic Events, Dances or Performances)

It is recommended that an effort be made to offer or sell only those foods and beverages that meet the above nutritional guidelines.

IV Nutritional Guidelines for non-sold foods and beverages

Preschool Programs, After School Care and/or Extra-Curricular Programs.

Snacks served will make a positive contribution to children’s diets and health, and will emphasize fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy products, and the importance or water as a beverage.

Celebrations

Schools will allow healthy food choices for celebrations throughout the school.

Each school can choose one celebration that would classify an exempt, which would allow for each healthy food or beverage to pair with a food or beverage that does not meet the nutrition guidelines for food and  beverages sold individually.

Students are allowed to bring in food or beverages that meet Smart Snacks Standards to celebrate tier birthday.

Rewards

Schools should not use foods or beverages as rewards for academic performance or good behavior.

V.  Food and Beverage Marketing

Schools will limit food and beverage marketing to the promotion of foods and beverages that meet the nutrition guidelines for meals or for foods and beverages sols individually.

Promotional materials (Fall Festival, give back nights, steak nights, fish fries, etc) will not contain images of working for food or beverage items that do not meet the nutritional guidelines for good or beverage old individually.

As contracts expire, promotional materials, such as, but not limited to, scoreboards, vending machines, etc. that currently advertise non-compliant foods or beverages will be changed to market water or only the company and not the product.

VI Nutritional Education

Catholic Schools in the Diocese of Evansville will follow health education curriculum standards and guidelines as stated by the Indiana Department of Education

Nutrition education will be taught by a licensed teacher in grade K-12.  In self-contained classrooms, teachers holding an appropriate license may teach their own health and nutrition education, as well as other requited subjects as their license allows.

Nutrition education will be taught throughout grades K-12 including, but not limited to

Nutrition Knowledge

Benefits of health eating

Essential nutrients

Nutritional deficiencies

Use and misuse of dietary supplements

Safe food and preparations

Handling and storage

Caloric balance between food intake and energy expenditure

Nutrition Related Skills

Plan healthy meals

Understanding and using food labels

Critical evaluation of nutrition information

Commercial food advertising

Assessing Personal Eating Habits and Setting Achievable Goals

Teachers are encouraged to integrate nutrition education into core curriculum in areas such as math, science, social studies, and language arts.

Professional development opportunities will be shared with teachers and staff throughout the year.

Cafeteria staff will participate in annual training as part of the professional standards

VII Nutrition Promotion

Cafeteria staff will introduce students to new food choices once per semester Consistent encouragement will be given to students to try new foods and make positive comments about foods.

The cafeteria can be used to display nutrition education posters and food facts to encourage interest in healthy foods.

The School Wellness Committee will explore and identify at least two of the Smarter Lunchroom techniques as listed at http://www.smarterlunchrooms.org/scorecard-tools/smarter-lunchrooms-strategies to implement in order to promote healthy food and beverages for all students.

Schools shall schedule mealtimes so there is minimum disruption by bus schedules, recess and other special programs or events, thereby allowing sufficient time for students to eat.

All elementary and middle schools will provide the Nutrition Nuggets newsletter, via the school website, take home folder, or my email, in an effort to communicate, promote, and educate parents and guardians regarding nutrition and wellness.

VIII  Physical Activity

Classroom Setting

Classroom health education will complement physical education by reinforcing the knowledge and self-management skills needed to maintain a physically active lifestyle.

Classroom teachers will provide short physical activity breaks, ie Brain breaks, between lessons or classes as appropriate.

Schools should discourage extended periods of inactivity (periods of two or more hours)  When activities such as mandatory school-wide testing, make it necessary for students to remain sedentary for long periods of time, students should be provided with periodic breaks during which they are encouraged to stand and be moderately active.

Physical Education Class

All students will receive regular physical education

Student involvement in other physical activities will not be substituted  for meeting the physical education requirement in grades K-8

High School students must ear two credits in physical education.

Students will spend at least 50% of physical education class time participating in moderate to vigorous physical activity.

The student teacher ratio for physical education classes will be no longer than other classes (30-1)

Professional development will be available to PE teachers, especially at the Diocesan Teacher Share Meetings

A licensed PE teacher in grades that are departmentalized will teach physical education.  In self-contained classrooms, teachers holding an appropriate license may teach their own physical education, as well as other required subjects at their license allows

Recess

All elementary students (K-5) will have at least 20 minutes per day of supervised recess, preferably outdoors, during which schools should encourage moderate to vigorous physical activity, verbally and through the provision of space and equipment

Physical Activity and Punishment

Teachers and other school and community personnel will not arbitrarily use physical activity (running laps, push-ups) or withhold opportunities for physical activity (recess, physical education) as consequence to behavioral infractions.

IX Additional School-Based Activities

Faculty and Staff will have the opportunity to be involved in wellness programs and/or efforts to build effective school health initiatives

School Faculty and Staff should encourage healthy eating behaviors by being role models to students during school hours wen the presence of students.

School cafeteria staff will be hired with the understanding that hey are responsible to adhere to the policies the school has in place.

The school will assess and, if necessary, and to the extent possible, make needed improvements to make it safer and easier for students to walk and bike to school.  Crossing guards, school safety patrol and bike racks will be available at each K-8 school

Nutrition education and wellness will be offered to students, parents and staff through any of the following methods

Health fairs,

Healthy eating and wellness seminars,

Newsletters,

Handouts

Internet information consistent with USDA Dietary guidelines for Americans,

And Team Nutrition information.

X.  Evaluation

The school administrator along with the School Wellness Committee, will complete the Diocesan Wellness Policy Checklist on school-wide compliance with the established nutrition and physical activity wellness policies on an annual basis.  The completed checklist will be submitted to the Catholic School Office by June 1.

Every three years the school administrator along with the School Wellness Committee, will complete one of the following School Health Environment Assessment Tools:

HEROES Needs Assessment

USDA’s WellSAT 2.0

XI Person Responsible

The school administrator will ensure compliance with the established Wellness Policy.

The preschool director will ensure compliance with the established Wellness Policy in the Early Learning setting.

The School Food Service Staff will ensure compliance with nutrition policies for all food and beverages sold.

XII>  Communication

Progress reports should be shared with the public using the following channels of communication:

The Message

School newsletter

Website

School Messenger and

Other forms of communication

Progress reports ensure transparency by including:

Web address of the wellness policy

Description of each school’s activities and goals and current level of progress.

Contact details for School Wellness Committee, and

Information on how to join the School Wellness Committee.