Once a policy is in place, this section offers resources to create strategies and programs to successfully implement Local School Wellness Policies. Guidance and standards, instructional and ent resources, alternative fundraising and vending options, and other ways to build and sustain healthy learning environments are provided for:
Taking Action for Healthy School Environments Linking Education, Activity, and Food in California Secondary Schools (PDF file) This publication illustrates promising practices and strategies in nutrition and physical activity policy development and implementation that have been field-tested and found successful in over 18 California middle and high schools.
School Meal Programs
The established regulations for federal meal reimbursement programs (National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, Child and Adult Care Food Program, Summer Food Service Program, and After-School Snack Program) provide guidance for meeting the nutritional needs of your students. These resources offer ways to work with your district to serve high-quality foods and meals in your cafeteria.
Food Programs – California Department of Education
Check these pages for child nutrition program data including analyses of meals, participation, free and reduced-price meal eligibility in California schools
Foods for Healthy Schools – COMING SOON California Department of Educations’s OFFICIAL list of approved foods and beverages.
Foods Standards Calculator
Use Project Lean’s Foods Standards Calculator tool to compare the nutrient content of a snack to the nutrient standards for fat, saturated fat, and sugar established by California legislation.
Nutrition – California Department of Education
Learn about resources and information related to child nutrition, nutrition education, and food distribution programs in California.
Regulations of the Food Nutrition Service, Department of Agriculture
View actual federal regulations for the various federal meal reimbursement programs.
School Meals – Food & Nutrition Service, USDA
Read about federal meal reimbursement programs.
School Meal Initiative – California Department of Education
Obtain information about the School Meals Initiative – a law establishing nutrition standards for the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs.
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Nutrition Education Instruction
The following resources provide information on nutrition education guidance and standards, instructional materials, classroom cooking, garden-based nutrition education, Farm-to-School, composting, and recycling.
Guidance and Standards
California Health Framework for Grades K-12 – California Department of Education
This document presents guidelines for organizing, planning, implementing,and evaluating school-based health programs in California. Access a document or borrow from CHKRC.
Healthy Children Ready to Learn, A White Paper on Health, Nutrition, and Physical Education – California Department of Education
This document discusses student nutrition, physical activity and fitness,and provides the recommendations from The Superintendent’s Task Force on Childhood Obesity, Type 2 Diabetes, and Cardiovascular Disease.
Nutrition Competencies in California, Pre-K through Grade 12 (DRAFT) – California Department of Education
This document was designed to guide school districts and agencies in promoting effective, sequential, and comprehensive nutrition education.
Steps to a Healthier You – United States Department of Agriculture
The new Food Guide Pyramid or MyPyramid is described; and tools, lessons, and resources are provided for adults and students to apply MyPyramid to make healthy food choices.
Superintendent O’Connell’s Task Force for Childhood Obesity, Type 2 Diabetes, and Cardiovascular Disease – California Department of Education
This task force examined the complex factors that contribute to nutrition-related chronic conditions and made recommendations to the State Superintendent of Public Instruction on actions that schools and their partners can and should take to address the epidemic trends facing California.
Instructional Materials
Health Education Library – The California Healthy Kids Resource Center
The CHKRC online health education library provides a searchable database of reviewed, research-based health and nutrition education materials. Borrowers can search for resources by subject area, grade level, type of material, or key word, and order up to ten items for four-week loan with free delivery.
Food and Nutrition Resources from A to Z – USDA Food and Nutrition Information Center
These web pages offer links to online resources, fact sheets, 5 a Day organizations, as well as descriptions and contact information for ordering nutrition education materials.
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Student Assessment Materials and Resources
Health Education Assessment Project Series
This is a comprehensive set of resources for student performance assessment in health developed by the State Collaborative on Assessment and Student Standards. All materials are available for a free four-week loan from the CHKRC.
Classroom Cooking
Cooking with Kids Series
This multicultural food and cooking education program includes a curriculum, video, student workbook, and book of recipes in Spanish and English in every grade level set. All materials are available for a free four-week loan from the CHKRC.
Kids Cook Farm-Fresh Food
This eighteen-chapter curriculum contains activities, recipes, profiles of local farmers, and correlations to academic content standards. This resource is available for a free four-week loan from the CHKRC.
Kitchen Math Kit
This kit contains a video, PowerPoint presentation, six posters, CD-ROMs, and reproducible student worksheets to teach about proper measuring and recipe modification techniques. This resource is available for a free four-week loan from the CHKRC.
Garden-Based Nutrition Education
California Garden Clubs, Inc.
This non-profit association of garden clubs in California is devoted to the development of all phases of gardening. It includes a web site for junior gardeners.
California School Garden Network
This organization is dedicated to the mission of creating and sustaining gardens in California schools. They provide resources, research and support for funding, planning, and maintaining school gardens.
Educational Resources Catalog – California Department of Education
The catalog includes garden-based educational resources that can be purchased from CDE Press.
Garden in Every School, A – California Department of Education This program promotes links between school classrooms, cafeterias, and local agriculture. Includes the California School Garden Network and “A Child’s Garden of Standards” (#1502), available for loan from the CHKRC.
Farm to School Connections
National Farm to School Program
The Farm to School Program connects schools with local farms with the objectives of supporting healthy school meals, nutrition education, and local farmers.
Community Alliance with Family Farmers
The CAFF Farm-to-School program brings fresh, locally-grown, and unprocessed fruits and vegetables into school cafeterias across California. The program also educates children about their relationship to agriculture, the environment and the food they eat.
Harvest of the Month – Network for a Healthy California
These hands-on resources connect to the classroom, cafeteria, home, and the community. They encourage students to explore, taste, and learn about the importance of eating fruits and vegetables.
Recycling Resources
Waste Management, Rethinking School Lunch Guide – Center for Ecoliteracy (PDF file)
This resource outlines strategies for creating school waste management programs, and offers case studies and models for developing workable systems.
Kids Recycle! This web site hosts a number of informational and educational resources for setting up and managing effective recycling and waste prevention programs.
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Physical Education Instruction and Physical Activity Promotion
Guidance and Standards
California Physical Education Framework for Grades K-12 – California Department of Education. This framework was developed as the guiding document for California schools to provide kindergarten through grade twelve students with the knowledge and skills needed to maintain an active, healthy lifestyle. Obtain the 2008 pre-publication version.
California Physical Education Model Content Standards (PDF file) – California Department of Education
These standards present the essential skills and knowledge that all students need to maintain a physically active, healthy lifestyle. They support Education Code section 51210 that requires 200 minutes of physical education every 10 school days for students in grades one through six, and Education Code Section 51222 requiring 400 minutes of physical education every 10 school days for students in grades seven through twelve.
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Other Food Sales and the School Environment
Supporting a healthy school nutrition environment starts with theclassroom and extends to other foods accesssible to students through vending machines, school stores, and fundraising events.
SHAPE Fall 2008 Nutrition Standards PowerPoint (.ppt)
This program introduces the need for nutrition standards for competitive foods and beverages, the legislation that established California’s standards, and provides overviews of federal and state requirements.
Alternatives for Using Food as a Reward – Michigan State University Extension (PDF file)These ideas for healthy rewards include zero- and low-cost options.
Constructive Classroom Rewards – Center for Science in the Public Interest (PDF file) Classroom rewards can be an effective way of encouraging positive behavior. These suggestions promote good health while protecting
children’s health.
Creative Financing and Fundraising ideas – Shasta County Public Health (PDF file)
This list includes school and community-based ways to raise money for schools and student organizations that don’t include candy.
School Nutrition by Design! (PDF file) This document provides design principles to develop a healthy school nutrition environment. It outlines quality indicators within each design principle, furnishes resources and exemplars, and offers strategies for creating a nutrition environment that supports healthy lifestyles during and after school.
School Nutrition…by Design! Assessment and Planning Tool (.doc)
This assessment and planning tool, for use in conjunction with School Nutrition…by Design!, can help to evaluate the status of your school nutrition environment and establish priorities for implementing strategies that promote student health.
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Parent and Community Outreach
Including parents and other members of the school community is required for districts developing LSWP. These resources provide access to parent and teacher associations and the many resources and programs they offer to support schools.
California PTA
PTA district office locations, health and physical fitness position statements and resolutions, as well as programs and advocacy efforts are available from this web site.
Health and Wellness Section – National PTA
The National PTA web site offers parents, schools, and communities many resources for promoting healthy nutrition and physical activity practices.
Local School Wellness Policy Joint Letter (PDF file) – California PTA and California Department of Education The California State Superintendent and California PTA President created this letter urging PTA leaders to work with schools and school districts to develop effective wellness policies.
