For the past five years, American University has partnered with Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States to assess the implementation and impact of the 2010 Healthy Schools Act in Washington, DC. The Healthy Schools Act (“HSA” or the “Act”) is the comprehensive wellness legislation enacted by the DC Council that seeks to make schools healthier environments in which to learn and work. Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States has funded both implementation and evaluation of the Healthy Schools Act and has been an advocate for healthier school environments.
This report is divided into three sections and details the progress schools have made in meeting the provisions of the HSA over five years. Section one provides data on the implementation of specific provisions of the HSA from 2011–2015. Section two presents the Composite Score, a strategy to evaluate each school’s level of implementation of the Act, developed by American University. Section three discusses the implementation of the HSA and makes observations and recommendations that schools and community leaders might use to advance health in the school environment.
Based on a Composite Score, a strategy to evaluate each school’s level of implementation of the Act, DC charter schools have scored higher than the traditional public schools.
Washington Yu Ying Assistant Principal Hilda Williams spoke about her school’s experience implementing the Healthy Schools Act:
We at Washington YuYing Public Charter School, are very proud of all our students who participated in the Healthy Schools Act contest, and are especially proud of our winners and their parents and their PE and Health teachers who are present here today. Our students creativity showcases the combined daily efforts of our teachers, administrators, parents and everyone who is part of the YuYing community. We are fortunate and honored at YuYing, to have a family that works hard, and is truly passionate about teaching the whole child. The learning experiences provided within our International Baccalaureate, Chinese immersion curriculum consistently pushes our students to think about the world around them, and take action to help solve problems.
The Healthy Schools Act was put in place, in response to a problem. In today’s world, the health and wellness of students (which the Healthy Schools Act primarily focuses on), is a vital component of education. Any educator will tell you, that learning cannot happen or be as effective, if all aspects of a child’s health and well being are not intact. With the intentional integration of the Healthy Schools Act within our interdisciplinary curriculum at YuYing, we have been able to engage students in learning experiences that promote healthy habits, and give students the opportunity to apply these healthy habits daily. Some of these experiences include:
- The building of a new garden that different classes use, that was partially built by students, and is accessible to all members of the YuYing community to use to prepare meals.
- Class use of our nature center where students can explore the interactions between biotic and abiotic elements.
- Schoolwide implementation of daily morning movement
- Improved school lunch that is more balanced, and heavy in vegetables and fruits.
- Annual Fuel Free Fridays where staff, students and families walk or bike to school for an extended number of Fridays.
- There’s one more impact of the Healthy Schools Act that I want to mention, that has been extremely important.
I want you to imagine, as an adult, what your mental state is like when you are hungry. Now, imagine what your mental state is like when you are hungry, you have to get up for work and do your morning routine. Think about that feeling. Now, think about a child going through that. The availability of free breakfast to our students as a result of the Healthy Schools Act, has been crucial. Starting a day off hungry, affects anyone’s capability to work, and growing students, in particular, need that breakfast fuel to start off the day right.
The winning work of our students here today is an excellent example that shows that the Healthy Schools Act has had a meaningful impact on the lives of our Children in the District. For example, Isaac Lin, who won first place this year in 4th grade, created a music video titled ‘Healthiness is Awesome’, using the ‘Everything is Awesome’ theme song from the Lego movie, and actual legos. Our other outstanding student winners this year include: Marcella Collette, and Mika Inoue.
Everyone involved in creating and enabling the Healthy Schools Act, and everyone in the community who continues to promote the elements of the Act are doing a great service to our children, which is what taking a village, should look like.
For the past five years, American University has partnered with Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States to assess the implementation and impact of the 2010 Healthy Schools Act in Washington, DC.