ICHABOD CRANE 5405
STUDENT WELLNESS POLICY
The Ichabod Crane School District is committed to providing school environments that promote and protect children’s health, well-being, and ability to learn by supporting healthy eating and physical activity. Therefore, it is the policy of the Ichabod Crane Central School District that:
⮚ the school district will engage students, parents, teachers, food service professionals, health professionals, and other interested community members in developing, implementing, monitoring, and reviewing district-wide nutrition and physical activity policies.
⮚ All students in grades K-12 will have opportunities, support, and encouragement to be physically active on a regular basis.
GOALS FOR NUTRITION EDUCATION AND FOOD MARKETING
The Ichabod Crane Central School District aims to teach, encourage, and support healthy eating by students. Schools will provide nutrition education and engage in nutrition promotion that:
⮚ is offered as part of a sequential, comprehensive, standards-based program designed to provide students with the knowledge and skills necessary to promote and protect their health;
⮚ is part of not only health education classes, but also classroom instruction in other subjects;
⮚ promotes fruits, vegetables, whole grain products, low-fat and fat-free dairy products, healthy food preparation methods, and health-enhancing nutrition practices;
⮚ emphasizes caloric balance between food intake and energy expenditure (physical activity/exercise);
⮚ teaches media literacy with an emphasis on food marketing.
GOALS FOR PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
⮚ Students will be provided with opportunities for physical activity during the school day, through physical education classes, recess (primary and elementary levels), and where appropriate, integration of physical activity into the academic curriculum.
⮚ All High School students will complete at least one unit of instruction annually in physical education that is considered to be physically vigorous.
⮚ Students are given opportunities for physical activity through a range of before-and/or after school programs including, but not limited to, intramural activities, modified and interscholastic athletics and where possible, physically active extra-curricular activities (i.e. marching band, access to the fitness room).
⮚ Encourage parents and guardians to support their children’s participation in physical activity, to be physically active role models, and to include physical activity in family events.
⮚ Provide training to staff members to enable teachers to promote enjoyable, lifelong physical activity among students.
GOALS FOR SCHOOL-BASED ACTIVITIES DESIGNED TO PROMOTE STUDENT WELLNESS
⮚ Provide a clean, safe, enjoyable meal environment for students.
⮚ Encourage appropriate hand-cleansing practices.
⮚ Provide and maintain clean and well-functioning drinking fountains in all schools, so that students can get water at meals and throughout the day.
⮚ Candy should not be used to reward behavior at the Primary or Elementary level. Healthy alternatives should be encouraged at all levels. (See Attachment A.)
⮚ Encourage and promote healthy alternatives and portion sizes for snacks and celebrations.
⮚ Encourage fundraising efforts that are supportive of healthy eating.
⮚ Encourage Teachers to limit the practice of keeping students from participating in recess as a punishment.
⮚ Provide information and outreach materials about other FNS programs such as food stamps, and Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) to students and parents as practicable.
GOALS FOR FOOD SERVICE OPERATIONS
⮚ Provide adequate space and serving areas to ensure that all students have access to school meals with a reasonable wait time.
⮚ Use menu planning principles that feature a wide variety of quality choices that are tasty, healthy and attractive.
⮚ Encourage participation in the district’s food service program, and to protect the identity of students who access free and reduced meals.
⮚ Provide adequate time for students to consume healthy foods.
⮚ Schedule the lunch time as near to the middle of the school day as practicable.
⮚ Participate in a “Farm to School Co-Op” to purchase produce from local farms when economically feasible.
⮚ The School Lunch Program will strive to exceed the nutrient standards set by the USDA in the following areas:
Nutritional Analysis:
| NUTRIENTS |
| Calories (kcal) |
| Protein (g) |
| Calcium (mg) |
| Iron (mg) |
| Vitamin A (RE) |
| Vitamin C (mg) |
| Total Fat (% kcals) |
| Saturated Fat (% kcals) |
Cafeteria a la carte, snack and beverage sales will comply or exceed recommendations of the New York School Nutrition Association for Moderate Snack Items and Beverage Choices – “Choose Sensibly Program”. Foods excluded from these standards include those with naturally occurring fat and sugars, such as dried fruit, seeds and nuts that do not have added sugar or salt in them.
Standard for Snack Items Considered to be Moderate:
| Fat | 7 grams or less |
| Saturated Fat | 2 grams or less |
| Sodium | 360 mg or less |
| Sugar | 15 grams or less |
Standard for Beverage Choices Considered to be Moderate:
⮚ Juice must be 25% or more real juice
⮚ All low fat milk and low fat flavored milk
⮚ Beverages with less than 10 mg of caffeine per serving
⮚ Water or flavored waters without added sugar, artificial sweeteners or caffeine
EVALUATION
⮚ The wellness policy sub-committee will meet annually to review the implementation and effectiveness of this policy and will recommend changes to the Board of Education as needed.
⮚ Aggregate body mass index data will be made available to the committee if desired
⮚ The school health index or any portion thereof may be used to monitor the district’s wellness efforts and to provide the basis for recommended changes.
⮚ The NYSED Child Nutritional School Meals Initiative Review will be analyzed to evaluate the program effectiveness.
Effective Date: January 7, 2014