Learning Collaborative for Schools

Collaborating with School Districts to Develop Wellness Policies

NHPS has launched a series of collaborative learning sessions with the goal of helping school districts to develop and implement school wellness policies that support 5-2-1-Almost None behaviors, such as:

Providing opportunities for physical activity during the school day (in addition to PE class)
Offering and promoting healthy food and beverage options throughout the school campus - including vending machines, snack bars, school stores, fundraisers, and celebrations
Ensuring that health education is offered and includes nutrition, physical activity, and screen-time reduction
Providing health promotion activities for staff, who serve as important role models for students

As a part of this collaborative, district wellness councils are engaged in a process of assessing current wellness policies and student health needs, identifying areas for improvement, and implementing plans to address those areas. Throughout the collaborative, district teams are provided with user-friendly tools and templates, hands-on technical assistance, and a forum for sharing successes, challenges, and solutions with colleagues from other schools and districts.

Eleven Delaware school districts are currently participating in the collaborative. Some examples of strategies being used to put their wellness policies into action are:

Participating in the Department of Education’s Physical Activity/Physical Education program (initiated by HB 471 of 2006) to provide all students with 150 minutes of physical activity per week
Incorporating 10-minute bursts of physical activity into classes throughout the school day
Adopting evidence-based programs, such as CATCH (Coordinated Approach to Child Health), designed to increase students’ moderate to vigorous physical activity
Incorporating the 5-2-1-Almost None message into health education and information sent home to parents
Providing classroom teachers with alternatives to using food as a reward or withholding recess/physical activity as a punishment

Through these activities and others, participants in the collaborative are learning what works best to create healthy school environments for their students, and sharing that information with their colleagues. We are proud of their accomplishments and look forward to welcoming more Delaware districts into this growing collaborative network.

Our Current School District Partners:

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Tools for Healthy Schools

Last updated: Thursday, April 23, 2009

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