• Wellness and Food

    Snack and Lunch: Please send your child to school with a water bottle, a healthy snack and a healthy lunch each day.  Nutrition is an important part of helping students be ready to learn and regulate their behavior throughout the day.  We build time into the day to allow all students to eat a morning snack.

    Nuts: We have some students with severe nut allergies.  All kindergarten classes are nut free. For 1st-5th graders, if your child is in a nut-restricted classroom, you will be notified.  This requires that no nuts are consumed in the classroom. However since lunchtime is outside, nut products can be packed in lunch as long as the child does not eat them in the classroom for any reason.  Students with nut allergies may sit at nut-free tables if needed.

    Food Free Classrooms: We have some students who require a food free classroom.  This means that no food may be consumed in these classrooms including for class parties.  Sometimes parties are held outside, and often parties are food free and they make use of many other ways to celebrate together.

    Birthday Celebrations: Please respect your teachers’ way of celebrating birthdays in your child’s classroom.  We cannot allow sugary or unhealthy treats even for birthday celebrations. If you bring unhealthy treats, your teachers have been asked to send them home with your child for your family to enjoy.

    Wellness Policy: Our district has a wellness policy that specifies how often and what type of food we can have in our classrooms, specifically with regard to classroom parties.  Here are some important extracts from that policy:

    •  Snacks: Snacks served during the school day or in after-school care or enrichment programs will make a positive contribution to children's diets and health, with an emphasis on serving fruits and vegetables as the primary snacks and water as the primary beverage.

    •  Rewards: Schools will not use foods or beverages, especially those that do not meet the nutrition standards for foods and beverages in schools, as rewards for academic performance or good behavior, and will not withhold food or beverages (including food served through school meals) as a punishment.

    •  Celebrations: Schools should limit celebrations that involve food during the school day to no more than one party per class per month. Each party should include no more than one food or beverage that does not meet nutrition standards for foods and beverages sold individually (above). The district will disseminate a list of healthy party ideas to parents and teachers.