School Health & Wellness

Good health and learning go hand in hand. The Health Department works with Northern Kentucky school leaders, offering technical assistance to make schools more conducive to health through policy, systems, and environmental changes. The Coordinated School Health Program uses the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child model, expanded from the coordinated school health approach. This child-centered model focuses on the school and community to address children’s health in schools.

School Wellness Policies

Schools should bring together a variety of stakeholders, including staff, parents, school board members, and administrators in developing wellness policies, which address the following components:

Nutrition
Physical activity
Tobacco-free environments
Mental health
Unintentional injury/violence prevention
Other school-based activities

Resources for wellness policy development

WellSAT is an online tool created for schools and districts to assess the quality of their wellness policies, and offers personalized guidance and resources for making improvements based on assessment results.

School Health Index: Self-Assessment and Planning Guide is a tool that schools can use to identify their existing strengths and weaknesses, develop an action plan from improving health, and engage teachers, parents, students and the community in promoting health-enhancing behaviors and better health.

Health Department staff are available to assist schools with use of the WellSAT and/or School Health Index. Email nkywebmaster@nkyhealth.org.

School Resources

MENTAL HEALTH MODULES FOR STAFF

REACH Project

Through the REACH School Health Incentive Funds project, schools work with the Health Department to create healthier environments with a focus on policy and environmental changes over a two-year period.

REACH 2022-2024 Cycle Accomplishments

Grant’s Lick Elementary in Campbell County focused on physical activity and nutrition. They created environmental changes among their school by implementing heart rate monitors in their P.E classes to educate students on the important effects of physical activity, as well as constructing indoor recess carts that promoted movement and play for students. Policy changes for the school included updates to the school wellness policy on the modeling of healthy food habits, energy and sugary drinks in the classroom, and using candy as rewards.

Holy Trinity School in Campbell County focused on nutrition and mental health. They created environmental changes among their school by creating new outdoor classroom spaces and a space in the library for mental health breaks for staff and students to utilize. Mental health awareness and education signage was also placed around the school. Policy changes for the school included a new improved list of healthy food alternatives for awards and the implementation of a snack cart consisting of healthier foods like fruits and vegetables.

Williamstown Independent School District focused on physical activity and tobacco. They created environmental changes among their school by putting new signage around the school on tobacco/nicotine and its harmful effects. Policy changes for the school included health promotion and education in the school newsletter and notes for staff weekly and announcing at all sporting events that they are a tobacco-free school.

Funding Opportunities

The following organization provides funding opportunities for school health:

Action for Healthy Kids

Application for the 2024-2026 REACH Project

Northern Kentucky’s work in this area has been featured in the following national publications:

Healthy Challenge

Produce Man’s Healthy Challenge is held in March to coincide with the observance of National Nutrition Month and Every Kid Healthy Week.

Schools interested in taking part in the 2025 Health Challenge can register here.

About the challenge

Produce Man’s Healthy Challenge is a school-wide campaign appropriate for elementary schools (Pre-K through 8th grade students) and includes school staff as well.

During the week-long challenge, students and staff use a tracking chart to reach a goal of eating at least five servings of fruits and vegetables plus getting in 30 minutes of exercise daily.

Winning students, staff and classes at each participating school win prizes and compete for grand prize funding awarded to schools.

Approximately 30 public and private schools throughout Northern Kentucky participate annually.

For More Information

For more information, please contact Monica Smith monica.smith@nkyhealth.org or 859-363-2114.

Eat Healthy NKY

The Eat Healthy NKY Collaborative works to provide access to local and nutritious foods to all in Northern Kentucky. Partners include school personnel, farmers, parents, community members, etc.

For additional information, contact nkywebmaster@nkyhealth.org.

Farm to School

The Northern Kentucky Health Department coordinated the Farm-to-School Challenge in Northern Kentucky throughout the month of October, which was National Farm-to-School Month. This year the program was in collaboration with the KY Farm to School Network’s new statewide promotion for farm-to-school month. The program included Taste, Learn, and Grow activities, such as serving locally grown foods in schools, taste tests in the cafeteria or classrooms, nutrition education activities in the classroom, farm visits, and school garden or growing activities.

Participating schools received promotional items provided by the Northern Kentucky Health Department, which included a farm-to-school kit with posters, a farm-to-school cafeteria sign for the top of the serving line, farm-to-school bulletin board, a starter grow kit and seeds, stickers, fruit and vegetable tattoos, apple cutters, and Kentucky farmer trading cards highlighting local farms. Schools also received a yard sign from the Kentucky Farm-to-School Network that stated they served food from a local farm to display on their school property.

There was a great response this year with the most schools participating since the program’s inception in 2018, with 22 Northern Kentucky schools participating in 2023. This is an increase of 13 schools from last year.

Congratulations to Ballyshannon Middle School cafeteria in Union, Ky., on winning $500 for the 2023 KY Farm-to-School Month Challenge in Northern Kentucky. (They were the randomly selected winner from the submitted completion forms.)

For more information on the Farm-to-School Challenge, contact Monica Smith at monica.smith@nkyhealth.org.

Check out some of the results of this Challenge: