Healthy School Environment

Healthy eating and regular physical activity play a role in preventing chronic diseases, including heart disease, cancer, diabetes and stroke. Many factors influence the food and activity choices of young people. Families, friends, neighborhoods and schools can have an impact on the choices children make.

Schools play an important role that can effect a child's healthy start. Young people spend more than half their day at school. If young people learn to make healthy choices at school, they likely will carry those healthy choices into adulthood.

View information and resources listed below for local wellness policy, nutritional environment, physical activity environment and whole health environment. Contact the local school administrator, school board, and/or school health advisory council for more information on a local school or district’s environment or programs. 

Local Wellness Policy

Requirements

• Alliance for a Healthier Generation (AHG): Wellness Policies
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Local School Wellness Policy
• CDC: School Health Guidelines
• Federal Register: Local School Wellness Policy Implementation
• Square Meals: Local Wellness Policy

Development

• United States Department of Agriculture (USDA): Local School Wellness Policy

Implementation

• USDA: Local School Wellness Policy Outreach Toolkit
• USDA: Local School Wellness Policy Process
  

Evaluation

• Bridging the Gap: District Wellness Policies
• NASBE: Policymaking
• Rudd Center: WellSAT 3.0

Nutrition Environment

For Educators

• AHG: Smart Snacks  
• CDC: School Nutrition
• Center for Science in the Public Interest: Resource Library - School Foods
  
• USDA: Nutrition Education
• USDA: School Meals Policy Memos

School Meals

• School Superintendents Association (AASA): Alternative School Breakfast
• AHG: Nutrition Services 
• CDC: Smart Snacks
• USDA: Food Buying Guide for Child Nutrition Programs
• USDA: School Breakfast Program
• USDA: Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act
• USDA: Healthy Meals Resource System 

Nutrition

• DairyMax: Nutrition Education Tools 
• USDA: MyPlate

Fundraising

• Action for Healthy Kids (AHK): Healthy Fundraising  
• AHG: Fundraising
• Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA): Fundraisers - Guidance for Schools [pdf] 
• TDA: Fun and Healthy Fundraisers [pdf] 

Additional Resources

• AHK: Healthy & Active Non-Food Rewards
• CDC: School Nutrition
• Keep it Flowing: A Practical Guide to School Drinking Water Planning, Maintenance and Repair [pdf] 

Physical Activity Environment

Standards

• CDC: Physical Activity Basics
• CDC: Physical Activity Guidelines for Children and Adolescent
• SHAPE America: National Guidelines
• SHAPE America: National PE Standards
• Texas Education Agency: 19 TAC Chapter 116. TEKS for Physical Education
• The Cooper Institute: FitnessGram®

Assessment

• CDC: School Health Index
• Office of the State Superintendent of Education: Healthy School Act Assessment and Evaluation Program

For Educators

• CDC: Physical Education and Physical Activity 
  
• CDC: Physical Activity Guidelines for School-Aged Children and Adolescents 
  
• SHAPE America: Professional Development

Physical Activity and Education

• American Heart Association: Increasing and Improving Physical Education and Physical Activity in Schools [pdf] 
• National Fitness Foundation: Presidential Youth Fitness Program
• Safe Routes Partnership: Healthy Communities 

Out of School Activity

• CDC: Out of School Time
• Afterschool Alliance: Kids on the Move: Afterschool Programs [pdf] 
  
• Alliance for a Healthier Generation: Out-of-School Time
• SHAPE America Position Statement: Schools Should Provide Before, After, and Intramural Activities Programs [pdf] 

Whole Health Environment

Strategic Planning

• School Communication Planning Guide
• Community Tool Box: Strategic Planning or “VMOSA” (Vision, Mission, Objective, Strategies, and Action Plans)
• Getting Smart: 6 Steps to a Successful School Marketing Plan
• The Balance Careers: Build a Strategic Framework Through Strategic Planning

Family Engagement

• National Association for Family, School, and Community Engagement: Resources for Professionals  
• United States Department of Education (USDE): Partners in Education: Dual Capacity - Building Framework for Family School Partnerships [pdf] 
• USDE: Dual Capacity-Building Framework for Family-School Partnerships [pdf] 

Additional Resources

• CDC: Virtual Healthy School
• CDC: Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child
• CDC: Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child Model
  
• National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (NACDD): School Health Resources
• NACDD: School Health Webinars  
• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: Healthy School Environments 

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External links to other sites are intended to be informational and do not have the endorsement of the Texas Department of State Health Services. These sites may not be accessible to people with disabilities.