Our Lady of the Lake Catholic School Wellness Policy

Introduction

In compliance with section 204 of Public Law 108-265, the Child Nutrition Act, Our Lady of the Lake Catholic School adopts and supports the following School Wellness Plan designed to promote nutrition education, healthy eating habits, and healthy physical activity in our children, families and staff.  The school supports a healthy environment where students learn and participate in positive dietary and lifestyle practices.

Healthy School Environment

Our Lady of the Lake Catholic School strives to maintain a healthy school environment for all students.  The school staff is dedicated to promoting good nutrition and hygiene, regular physical activity, and healthy choices about drugs, alcohol, and tobacco.  We are further dedicated to the mental and emotional well-being of each child and strive to create a school environment where all children are treated with sensitivity and respect.

Nutrition Education

The school will promote healthy choices both in and out of the classroom. Teachers will cover good nutrition, balanced diet, food groups, the food pyramid, etc. as part of the regular science curriculum. Emphasis will be placed on the importance of avoiding excess sugar, fat, and processed foods.

The school shall further promote healthy dietary choices using bulletin board displays, posters, student artwork, and other visual reminders both in the classroom and in the halls as appropriate throughout the year.

The school newsletter will, from time to time, feature articles about healthy nutritional choices in the home for the purpose of promoting parent involvement and education.  The staff will be encouraged to teach good nutrition and a balanced diet and shall receive information at the fall in-service to assist them in this.

Student Nutrition

FOOD:  Parents are encouraged to send healthy lunches and snacks for their child, and/or their child's class.  We specifically encourage fruit, vegetables, dairy products, and snacks made with whole grains.  We discourage snacks that have more than 30% of their total calories deriving from fat, or more than 10% of their total calories deriving from saturated fat.

Birthday and classroom party snacks are an exception to these guidelines, but parents are still encouraged to make sure that the fat content of birthday and classroom party snacks does not exceed 30% of total calories.

All Hot Lunch program meals will comply with the department of Public Instruction guidelines for reimbursable meals.  Recommendations arising from regular DPI review of nutritional content of our lunches will be followed.  We will also comply with recommendations made during regular sanitation inspections.

No soda is allowed at lunchtime or snack time.  Fast Food is discouraged at lunch.  If fast food is brought it should be in a brown bag or lunch bag not in the company food bag.

Physical Activity/Education

RECESS:  All students will participate in daily recess.  Recess will last between 20 and 30 minutes each day.  During this time all students will be encouraged to engage in physical activity.  Preschool and Kindergarten students will have additional activity time each day.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION:  All students in kindergarten through 8th grade will participate in physical education classes twice per week. These classes will be 45 minutes.  Classes will be designed to familiarize students with a wide array of team and individual sports and activities.  It is the intent of our physical education curriculum to encourage students to be physically active their whole lives by providing them with an opportunity to find many sports and activities that meet their own personal interests.  Students will learn rules, sportsmanship, and the joy of sports.

All physical education classes will spend at least 50%-75% of the time allotted to actual activity.  Some time is needed during these classes for instruction in new sports and activities, but the majority of classes will spend the entire time allotted actively moving.

The total time spent in Physical Education classes and recess each week will be 190 minutes.

WALKING FIELD TRIPS:  All classes are encouraged to take walking field trips in the neighborhood of the school as fits their curriculum. These field trips provide education that cannot be gained in the classroom and help promote walking as a healthy and fun activity.

COMMUNITY PROGRAMS:  Students are encouraged to participate in local athletic programs including Saturday basketball, soccer, swimming, little league, gymnastics, dance, etc.  Ashland Leisure Services and other community organizer of summer sports regularly provide information about their activities and events and these are distributed to the students

Other Health Issues

DRUGS, ALCOHOL, TOBACCO:  Illegal Drugs and tobacco are prohibited on school grounds.  Students will receive education about the dangers of these throughout their time here at Our Lady of the Lake.  These issues will be discussed in age-appropriate ways with each class.

PHYSICAL/SEXUAL ABUSE:  In accordance with diocesan policy each class will discuss the issues of physical and sexual abuse in an age-appropriate manner.  The diocese provides many videos on these topics which the teachers may choose to use.  Teachers considering use of such a video shall first screen the video prior to classroom viewing to determine whether the video's content is appropriate for their class.

Parents will be provided with information about physical and sexual abuse prevention and reporting at least once each school year.  Information will be contained in the school newsletter and in separate informational flyers.  Parents are encouraged to read this information and discuss these issues, as appropriate, with their children.

Teachers are in-serviced at the beginning of each school year as to their status as "Mandatory Reporters" under Wisconsin statute.  They are aware that they are required to report to our local social services agency any suspected physical or sexual abuse involving their students.

MEDICATIONS:  All prescription and over-the-counter medications that students need to take during the school day should be kept in the school office.  The school has a long-standing exception for inhalers needed for serious asthma conditions.  These may be kept in the student's possession at all times.
Any medications coming to school should be accompanied by a note clearly stating dosage and times(s) to be taken.

MENTAL HEALTH:  The mental and emotional health of each student is important to everyone at Our Lady of the Lake.  Just as we strive to keep students physically safe during the school day we strive to keep them emotionally safe as well.  Teachers are encouraged to be understanding of students who are dealing with difficult transitions due to moving, illness, family tragedy, etc.  Teachers are further reminded of their responsibility to teach as Jesus did, with respect and kindness to all students.

Students are encouraged to treat each other with kindness and respect, using Jesus as our model of kindness toward others.  We strive to eliminate bullying, name-calling, exclusion, and intimidation from our school.  Older students are encouraged to be role models, treating each other, and younger students, with kindness and respect.
As needed, the services of the Ashland School District, or other outside agency, will be solicited to assist with the emotional/mental health needs of our students.  This will be done with the participation and cooperation of the parents after consultations between the teacher, parents, and principal.

ACCIDENT/INJURIES:  From time-to-time minor accidents and injuries may occur on our playground or elsewhere in the school.  These will be handled by the teacher present, or by the school secretary as needed.  In the event of an accident needing minor treatment such as an ice pack or bandage, an accident report will be sent home to the parents explaining what happened.
At the beginning of each year, parents are asked to complete a Family Card, on the back of which is a statement allowing the school to seek additional medical help for their children if necessary.  In the event of a serious accident, the supervising teacher will assess whether or not it is necessary to immediately call emergency services or if the parents should first be called.  At all times our first priority is the safety and well-being of the child.  All school personnel shall be instructed to make the health of the child the top priority and to take no risks of further injuring a child in the event of a serious accident.

VISION/HEARING:  In cooperation with the Ashland County Nurse, and with the help of parent volunteers, the school shall provide annual vision and hearing screenings to children in the lower grades, and to children in grades 5 through 8 at the request of a parent or guardian. Parents will be informed of results indicating the need for further testing by an eye care professional or by an audiologist.

Staff Wellness

Faculty and staff will be encouraged to participate in regular physical activity.  Walking field trips are encouraged for all classes and faculty.  From time-to-time information about health issues may be provided to faculty and staff through the diocesan insurance office.  All staff will have the opportunity to participate in our hot lunch program and receive a nutritionally balanced meal based on DPI guidelines.
Faculty will have the opportunity to participate in spiritual workshops and retreats to promote their spiritual/mental health.

Monitoring of Wellness Plan

OLL School will monitor the wellness plan yearly. All nutrition staff will review the policy prior to approval: Betty Swiston—Authorized Representative, Sammy Hicks—Food Service Director, Renee Parent—Claim Preparer, Mary Lavota—Kitchen Assistant.   The wellness policy stakeholders will review it at a meeting.  All parents, guardians, and parishioners are invited to review the wellness policy prior to the meeting.

Final approval will occur at the School Executive Board meeting in October.