I. Wellness Policy Goals

Goal for Nutrition Promotion: Cornerstone High School’s goal will be to provide parents/students the opportunity to access valuable information pertaining to healthy lifestyle strategies in the form of Schoo lwebsite, newsletters, handouts, and presentations.

Goal for Nutrition Education: Cornerstone High School’s goal is to influence students/staff’s eating behaviors by providing nutrition education that is appropriate for all students/staff.

Goal for Physical Activity: Cornerstone High School’s goals are to provide opportunities for every studentto develop the knowledge and skills for specific physical activities, to maintain students’ physical fitness,and to ensure students’ regular participation in physical activities.

Goal for Other School-Based Activities that Promote Student Wellness: Our primary goal is to provide a positive, safe, and healthy environment that encourages a physically active and healthy lifestyle for students, staff members, parents, and communities associated with Cornerstone Charter School.

II. Nutrition Standards

School Meals 

The school meal programs aim to improve the diet and health of school children, help mitigate childhood obesity, model healthy eating to support the development of lifelong healthy eating patterns and support healthy choices while accommodating cultural food preferences and special dietary needs. 

a. Cornerstone Charter School will participate in the National School Breakfast and Lunch Program. 

b. All meals will, at a minimum, meet the New Meal Pattern requirements. 

c. Free, potable water will be available to all students during meal periods. 

Competitive Foods and Beverages d. Nutrition standards for competitive foods and beverages must, at a minimum, meet the USDA’s Smart Snacks in Schools guidelines. These guidelines apply to all foods sold in the following locations: I. Cornerstone Charter School vending machines Celebrations and Rewards Arizona Law (ARS 15-242) states that all food and beverages served to students in grades K-8 must meet the USDA’s Smart Snacks in Schools guidelines.

e. Describe your standards for all foods and beverages provided, but not sold, to students during the

school day:

A celebration that occurs within a given classroom is limited to only those students enrolled in that one classroom. Examples of classroom parties are holiday parties and birthday parties that occur in the classroom limited to only those enrolled students. 

1. Classroom parties and celebrations will be considered exempt from all nutrient and competitive food guidelines and standards, if provided by parents. 

2. Food and beverages provided for classroom parties must comply with local food safety and sanitation guidelines. 

3. All foods offered must come from a commercial source with an approved Maricopa County Health permit; no food or drink items form any households will be allowed. 

f. These guidelines apply to (check all that apply): 

• School-sponsored events 
• Celebrations and parties 
• Classroom snacks provided by parents 
• Classroom rewards and Incentives

Fundraising

g. Describe your policy on food and beverage related fundraisers sold to students on school campus during the school day, including the frequency and duration of exempt fundraisers as appropriate: 

1. Food and beverage items sold at Cornerstone Charter School that do not meet the competitive food standards will be required to submit a waiver/exempt request 2 weeks prior to the Food Service Department and it will be submitted to ADE. 

2. Regulations state that no exempted fundraiser foods or beverages may be sold in competition with school meals in the food service area during the meal service.

Food and Beverage Marketing in Schools

Food and beverage marketing is defined as advertising and other promotions in schools. Food and beverage marketing often includes an oral, written, or graphic statements made for the purpose of promoting the sale of a food or beverage product made by the producer, manufacturer, seller or any other entity with a commercial interest in the product. All products marketed on the school campus must, at a minimum, meet the Smart Snacks guideline.

a. Describe your policies for food and beverage marketing: Vending machines are stocked by Jesenia Parsons.

b. Describe any additional policies for foods and beverages marketed to students: Vending will

provide documentation from the Smart Snack Calculator at the beginning of the school year and ongoing if any new items are added.

III. School Wellness Committee

Committee Role and Membership

The District will convene a representative district wellness committee that meets to establish goals for and oversee school health and safety policies and programs, including development, implementation and periodic review and update of this district-level wellness policy. 

a. Describe frequency of meetings: Cornerstone Charter School will conduct School Health Advisory Council meetings 2 times a school year. July & April 

b. Description of who the LEA permits to participate in the wellness policy process. (e.g. parents, students, and representatives of the school food authority, teachers of physical education, school health professionals, the school board, the school administrators, and the general public): The Cornerstone Charter School Wellness Committee Members will include community and school representatives. The recommended members include the following: School Teacher(s), Athletic Coach, parent(s), student(s), Administrator(s), Principal, and/or the Food Service Supervisor. 

c. Description of how the public is notified that their participation is permitted: Cornerstone Charter School Schools website and end of the year parent newsletter.

Leadership

The district has designated one or more LEA and/or school official(s) who have the authority and responsibility to ensure each school complies with the local wellness policy. 

a. The designated official for oversight of implementation at each school is: Casey Weiss, Principal 

b. The designated official for convening the wellness committee is: Jeff Souders, Food Service Director 

c. The person designated for informing the public about the wellness policy is: Casey Weiss, Principal

IV. Wellness Policy Implementation, Monitoring, Accountability and Community Engagement

Implementation of the Wellness Policy

a. Describe the District’s plan for implementation to manage and coordinate the execution of this wellness policy. The Superintendent shall appoint a District Wellness Team Council/committee to assess, plan, implement and improve the nutrition and physical activity environment of Cornerstone Charter School.

Triennial Progress Assessments

At least once every three years, the LEA must conduct an assessment of their wellness policy. To accomplish this, the District will evaluate compliance with their wellness policy and assess progress toward meeting the goals of the District Wellness policy. Additionally, USDA requires that the District will compare their policy to the Alliance for a Healthier Generation’s model wellness policy.

b. The District will assess compliance and progress of their local wellness policy at least once every 3 years. 

i. Provide a description of how the District will assess the progress made in attaining the goals of the District’s wellness policy: Cornerstone Charter School Wellness Committee will identify areas for improvements at each meeting and submit an annual report to make changes. 

ii. Provide a description of how the District will assess each school’s compliance with sections I-IV of this wellness policy. The school principal shall be responsible for the implementation and monitoring of the Cornerstone Charter School Wellness Guidelines through teacher/staff meetings with agendas and sign in sheets. 

c. The District will assess how their wellness policy compares to model wellness policies. 

i. Provide a description of how the District will compare their policy with the model policies. Committee to review the Alliance for a Healthier Generations Model Wellness Policy

Revisions and Updating the Policy

The District will update or modify the wellness policy as appropriate.

d. Describe how often the LEA will update or modify the wellness policy: Cornerstone Charter School will update or modify the wellness policy as deemed necessary.

Notification of Wellness Policy, Policy Updates and Triennial Assessment

The District will inform families and the public each year of any updates to the wellness policy and every three years their compliance with the written wellness policy.

 e. Describe how the LEA will make the district wellness policy available to the public: Cornerstone Charter School website 

f. The annual progress reports and updates can be found at: www.cornerstonehs.org/ 

g. The District will make the Triennial Assessment available at: http://cornerstonehs.org/cwp/national-school-lunch-program