Policy 0125: Wellness Policy

Introduction

In keeping with the mission of the Chappaqua Central School District, the Board of Education shall ensure that the District creates an environment which fosters the physical and emotional well-being of its students. The Board recognizes the importance of giving children access to healthful foods and opportunities to be physically active in order to grow, learn, and thrive. The District also recognizes that mental health is a state of well-being in which every individual realizes one’s potential, can cope with everyday  stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to contribute to one’s community. The District shall provide a comprehensive program enabling students to obtain the knowledge necessary to understand the importance of mental wellness, healthy eating and regular physical activity, as well as the skills to make intelligent and informed eating and fitness choices. The District program shall seek to foster lifelong habits of healthy eating, physical activity, and attention to mental wellness.

Nutrition Education

The District shall offer a comprehensive program that provides all students, K-12, the opportunity to:

Acquire nutrition-related knowledge in order to understand what constitutes healthy eating;

  • Understand the importance of a healthy diet for long-term wellness;
  • Understand the complex societal factors that influence a person's self concept and decisions around eating;
  • Develop self-awareness and personal decision-making skills that encourage healthy food selections.

Physical Activity

The District shall offer an extensive program of physical activities, both during school hours and as part of extracurricular and interscholastic programs, that provides all students the opportunity to:

  • Develop the knowledge, skills and personal qualities to engage in a variety of both individual and cooperative athletic and recreational activities;
  • Maintain a healthy level of physical fitness by participating regularly in physical activity;
  • Develop an understanding of both the short and long term benefits of physical activity;
  • Learn to value physical activity as key to personal wellness, while practicing
  • Decision-making and personal goal-setting as ways to develop a healthy lifestyle.

Mental Health

The District shall offer mental health education within its health and social-emotional learning curriculum that provides students with the opportunity to:

  • Understand the factors that contribute to maintaining mental wellness and developing emotional resilience;
  • Learn ways to reduce the risk of mental health challenges and disorders, identify symptoms of disorders, and identify the range of available supports and treatments.
  • Decrease the stigma around mental health and normalize efforts toward obtaining appropriate support; and 
  • Increase understanding of the challenges of mental health conditions in everyday life, as well as the importance of attending to one’s emotional, psychological, and social wellness. 

Food Service

The District shall offer a variety of affordable, nutritious, and appealing foods that meet the health and nutrition needs of students and serve such foods in a clean, safe, and pleasant setting with adequate time for students to eat. The District shall establish guidelines to ensure the availability of nutritious and healthful foods through school food service operations. Guidelines shall address the nutritional requirements of foods and beverages sold and served in school cafeterias and vending machines. The guidelines shall also specify goals to encourage continual improvement in the nutritional values of food service offerings.

The District shall work with the school community to foster and encourage healthy food selection by students. The District shall seek to establish linkages between the health education curriculum and the school meal program.

Non-Food Service Food-Related School Activities

The District seeks to limit food-related activities in the classroom during the school day. Food shall not be used as a reward for student behavior or achievement. Classroom activities utilizing food shall focus on foods with nutritional values as identified in the Food Service Guidelines. Foods not meeting nutritional guidelines may be allowed for classroom or school celebrations on limited occasions. At all times, schools shall be sensitive to students with allergies.

Food intended for immediate consumption may not be sold for fundraising purposes during school lunch hours. The District shall establish regulations concerning the sale and distribution of beverages and snacks for refreshment purposes at school-sponsored events on school property.

Implementation

The District shall establish a Wellness Advisory Committee to advise on the overall implementation and evaluation of this policy. The Committee shall also work with the food service provider to develop and implement a process to improve cafeteria menu and vending machine offerings.

The Superintendent or his/her designee shall ensure compliance with this policy and shall advise the Board annually on the implementation, monitoring, and modification of this policy and its regulations.

The Superintendent is charged with developing the administrative regulations necessary to implement this policy.

Adopted by Board of Education: June 20, 2006

Revised:

  • July 11, 2006
  • October 10, 2006
    May 18, 2023

Regulations