School Wellness
Model School Wellness Policies
Models For Success wellness a reality: Your priority and ours!
Advances in school nutrition and physical activity are taking place in thousands of communities as a result of local school wellness policies. Though the July 1 deadline for adopting School Wellness Policies has passed, schools should continuously examine and reexamine their local wellness policies and make changes as needed. To find out more about local wellness policies and model policies for success, click here.
Michigan Department of Education: Model for Local Districts
In Michigan, the State Board of Education developed a model wellness policy to assist Michigan school districts with developing their local wellness policies. With the involvement of teachers, parents, students, school foodservices, school administrators and the public, each district then modified the model to reflect local needs. As a result, the state was able to ensure that local districts would develop wellness policies that met Michigan's overall needs. Yet, at the district level, policies also could reflect local needs and be monitored and changed as needed.
Michigan's comprehensive, model policy includes:
- Guidelines for nutrition education
- Nutrition standards
- Physical education and physical activity opportunities
- Guidelines for healthy school parties
- Guidelines for alternatives to food rewards
- Smart fundraising ideas, and more!
Download Michigan’s Model Policy - PDF
Action For Healthy Kids Wellness Policy Tool
Action for Healthy Kids developed this Tool with input from our partner organizations and volunteer Team members to help you create a Local Wellness Policy that meets your district's unique goals for nutrition and physical activity and take the next steps to put the policy into action to positively impact students' health and lifelong choices.
In June 2004, the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act was signed into law, making it mandatory for all local education agencies participating in the Federal School Meal Programs to create a Local Wellness Policy by July 2006.
This Tool is intended to help anyone involved in developing, implementing, and evaluating wellness policies by providing practical guidance and how-to information about the Wellness Policy process.
The process of developing and implementing a Wellness Policy is cyclical and ongoing. Putting the policy on paper is not enough to improve student nutrition and physical activity, and by following the cycle of policy development shown above, school districts can improve student nutrition and physical activity long-term.
To use this Tool, you can start with Step 1 or go directly to the Step that is relevant to your progress. There you will find objectives, resources, and frequently asked questions to guide your journey through the Wellness Policy process.
Click here to use this tool