A Healthy School Report Card Helps Put Plans into Practice

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As part of the ASCD Healthy School Communities network, Barclay Elementary/Middle School in Baltimore, Md., uses ASCD's Healthy School Report Card as a way to build school leadership and a wide base of support for analyzing and improving a healthy school environment, which especially includes nutrition and exercise for students.

For example, one Barclay School initiative integrated with the curriculum has students practicing healthy nutrition by growing their own vegetables in portable containers and in raised garden beds on the school grounds. By preparing and eating the food they grow, students have been motivated to eat more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, while learning about the value of these foods in a well-rounded diet.

Leigh Dalton, community school director for Barclay, notes that the Healthy School Report Card program brings together school stakeholders, including administrators, teachers, students, and community groups, to learn what existing programs already contribute to a healthy school environment and what more they can do.

One Barclay parent points out that because the school recognizes the connections between health and learning, it offers more recess and opportunities for physical activity and exercise than many schools, which have been trimming recess to increase seat time in class. In other health areas, Barclay also plans to extend its school health service by adding dental screening to its existing vision screening program and care of students with asthma and diabetes.

Learn more about Healthy Schools Communities, a part of the ASCD Whole Child Initiative, which seeks to help schools ensure that students are knowledgeable, emotionally and physically healthy, civically engaged, prepared for economic self-sufficiency, and ready for the world beyond formal schooling.

Source: From Healthy School Communities: An ASCD Whole Child Initiative, 2009, Alexandria, VA: ASCD.