St. Mary’s Catholic School Wellness Policy
2026
The Archdiocese of Omaha recognizes that schools play a critical role in creating a healthy environment for the prevention of childhood obesity and combating problems associated with poor nutrition and lack of physical activity. This policy requires that all members of the school and community maintain an environment that enhances maximum student potential.
Wellness Committee
Anne Ronhovde
Sara Westerhold
Mary Brady
Molly D’Agosta
Wellness Policy
In order to comply with the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004, St. Mary’s has devised a Wellness Policy to address the areas of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Health. This policy was enacted with the foundational belief that guidelines for good nutrition, physical activities/education, and health/nutrition education are essential for our students and staff. Research shows that children who begin each day as healthy individuals, are better learners. This policy is assessed every three years by a representative from the State of Nebraska Education Department. St. Mary’s will comply with recommendations made at the time of each review.
Physical Education (P.E.)
All students in grades PK-6 will receive physical education class for 60 minutes per week for the entire school year. Students will spend at least 50% of physical education class time participating in moderate to vigorous physical activity.
In addition:
- School Field Day happens annually.
Daily Recess
Students in grades PK-6 will have at least 20 minutes a day of supervised recess, preferably outdoors, during which schools should encourage moderate to vigorous physical activity verbally and through the provision of space and equipment.
Teachers attempt to take their students outside daily. The times they would opt to stay indoors would be on inclement weather days. On those days’ indoor activity is encouraged:
- Go Noodle Activities/Brain Breaks
- Activity time for indoor recess
Students who are not allowed to participate in recess due to behavior have the option of walking for exercise during recess time. This is monitored by the staff member on duty.
Nutritional Goal
At St. Mary’s, all food and beverages served in the lunch line will comply with the state standards for nutrition in schools.
- St. Mary’s participates in the free and reduced lunch program
- Through participation in the program, the school follows the USDA nutrition guidelines outlined by this program for lunch and after school snacks.
- Follows the offer vs. serve guidelines
- Water at no cost is available at lunch. Students are encouraged to hydrate throughout the day by allowing students to have a water bottle in the classroom.
- Fruit and vegetables are provided in the lunch line.
- Students are allowed to choose their main course at the beginning of the day when they identify the lunch count in the classroom.
- There are no other times that food is sold during the school day.
- There are no vending machines for student use.
Meals Served
Meals served at St. Mary’s will:
- Be appealing and attractive to children
- Be served in clean and pleasant settings
- Meet, at a minimum, nutritional requirements established by local, state, and federal statutes and regulations
- Offer a variety of fruits and vegetables
- Serve only low-fat 1% and fat free milk
- Ensure that half of the served grains are whole grain
Meal Times and Scheduling
St. Mary’s will:
- Provide students with at least 20 minutes for lunch
- Schedule meal periods at appropriate times, between 11:00 am and 1:00 pm
- Provide students access to hand washing or hand sanitizing before they eat a meal or snacks
Sharing of Food and Beverages
St. Mary’s discourages students from sharing their food or beverages with one another during meal or snack times, given concerns about allergies and other restrictions on some children’s diets. To minimize the spread of germs and illness, children are told not to share food.
Nutrition Education
The primary goal of nutrition education is to influence students’ eating behaviors. Schools will promote nutrition education throughout students' PK-6 educational program. Nutrition education is incorporated into a variety of curriculum areas. These curriculum experiences provide the knowledge and skills necessary to make healthy food choices for a lifetime. St. Mary’s aims to teach, encourage, and support healthy eating by students by providing nutrition education that:
- Is offered at each grade level designed to provide students with the knowledge and skills necessary to promote and protect their health
- Is part of not only PE/Health education classes, but also classroom instruction in subjects such as math, science, language arts, and social studies
- Promotes fruits, vegetables, whole grain products, low-fat and fat free dairy products, healthy food preparation methods, and health-enhancing nutrition practices
- The cafeteria has posters that teach about the food groups.
- Staff has a set of guidelines and rules for the students to follow in the lunchroom to ensure an enjoyable environment for lunch.
- The menu is sent home each month.
- Links with school meal programs, other school foods, and nutrition-related community services
Nutrition Promotion
- The staff members on duty monitor the lunchroom environment and report any issues to the school principal for further assistance when needed.
- Healthy Classroom Snacks
- Students are allowed to bring in healthy items for snack. Some examples include: Crackers, raisins, fruit roll ups, fruit snacks, yogurt, cheese sticks, fresh fruit, carrots / celery, fruit cups, jello cups, pudding cups.
Integrating Physical Activity into the Classroom Setting
For students to receive the nationally recommended amount of daily physical activity (i.e., at least 60 min per day) and for students to fully embrace regular physical activity as a personal behavior, students need opportunities for physical activity beyond physical education class.
Goals:
- Classroom health education will complement physical education by reinforcing the knowledge and self-management skills needed to maintain a physically-active lifestyle and to reduce time spent on sedentary activities such as watching television
- Opportunities for physical activity will be incorporated into other subject lessons
- Classroom teachers may provide short physical activity breaks between lessons or classes, as appropriate.
Public Notification
- Families are provided this policy in the family handbook and have access to it electronically throughout the school year
- Modifications of the policy are communicated to the parents at the time the changes are made. Families would be notified via JMC by text or email.
Monitoring and Evaluation
- Anne Ronhovde, teacher facilitator, will ensure compliance with the nutrition and physical activity policies of St. Mary’s.
- This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
- This policy will be reviewed annually and updated in the Parent/Student Handbook.
- The school board will receive an annual summary report. The school board will be provided a copy of this policy for review. Upon request any additional information will be provided.
Goals to be discussed at future meetings:
- How can we promote healthy eating habits during school events?
- How can we encourage students to try new foods?
- What areas can we increase our nutrition awareness in our PK-6 curriculum?
- How can we increase movement and exercise during the school day?
- What school wide initiatives can we support to increase wellness for a good cause?
- Expand parent and student participation on the wellness committee.
