The school environment is critical in supporting the health and wellbeing of students. Students eat many of their meals at school and participate in a significant portion of their daily physical activity through physical education, recess, organized sports, and other school-based physical activity opportunities. A healthy school environment supports health, well-being, and academic achievement of students, and helps students develop healthy habits for a lifetime (J School Health; 2015, 85: 729-739).
The Local School Wellness Policy (LSWP) requirement, mandated by the United States Department of Agriculture, requires the development and implementation of a school wellness policy to establish a school environment that promotes students’ health, well-being, and ability to learn by supporting healthy eating and physical activity.
The resources on this webpage are designed to help local educational agencies meet LSWP requirements, strengthen their written school wellness policies, and implement policies that support student health and wellness.
Resources
Browse these resources to learn more about School Wellness Policy.
- School Wellness Policy Toolkit
- This toolkit supports school wellness policy and practice. It includes information, links to resources, and tools to move school wellness policies from paper to action.
- Building Capacity in School Wellness Training
- Building Capacity in School Wellness is an introductory training that covers the importance of healthy school environments, Local School Wellness Policy requirements, and how to write strong policy language.
- Slides – PowerPoint slides for introductory School Wellness Policy Training.
- Facilitator Guide – Complete guide to facilitating the Building Capacity in School Wellness workshop, including agendas, lesson plans, activity instructions, appendices, etc.
- External Resources
- Explore these external resources for additional information related to School Wellness Policy.
- Alliance for a Healthier Generation – Provides access to numerous tools to support local school wellness policies. Many resources require a free account to access.
- California Local School Wellness Policy Resources – The California Local School Wellness Policy Collaborative developed numerous free resources to support local school wellness policy success in California.
- University of Connecticut Collaboratory on School and Child Health – The Collaboratory on School and Child health has numerous resources for the the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) Model, a student-centered framework that emphasizes the connections between student health and academic achievement, as well as the role of the community in supporting school health.
- USDA Local School Wellness Policy Implementation Tools and Resources – Resources to support the development, assessment, and implementation of Local School Wellness Policies.
Site Level Assessment Questionnaires
View CalFresh Healthy Living, UC-recommended School Wellness Policy evaluation tools.
CFHL, UC Trainings
Explore recorded webinars and training resources for school wellness policy and other program topics.