Appended Document

 District Nutrition Standards 

The Newport School Department strongly encourages the sale or distribution of nutrient dense foods for all school functions and activities. Nutrient dense foods are those foods that provide students with calories rich in the nutrient content needed to be healthy. In an effort to support the consumption of nutrient dense foods in the school setting, the district has adopted the following nutrition standards governing the sale of food, beverages, and candy during the instructional day. Staff is encouraged to study these standards and develop building policy using the following District Nutrition Standards as minimal guidelines.

Food

  • Encourage the consumption of nutrient dense foods, i.e. WHOLE GRAINS, FRESH FRUITS, VEGETABLES, and DAIRY PRODUCTS.
  • Any given food item for sale prior to the start of the school day and throughout the instructional day, will have no more than 30% of its total calories derived from fat.
  • Any given food item for sale prior to the start of the school day and throughout the instructional day, will have no more than 100% of its total calories derived from saturated fat.
  • Nuts and seeds with minimal added fat in processing (no more than 3 grams of added fat per 1.75 ounce or less package size) are exempt from these standards because they are nutrient dense and contain high levels of monounsaturated fat.
  • It is recognized that there may be rare special occasions when the school principal may allow a school group to deviate from these Standards, but those special occasions must be recorded and included in the Nutrition & Physical Activity Advisory Council Annual Report.

Beverages

  • ONLY Milk, Water, and beverages containing 50-100% fruit juices with no added artificial or natural sweeteners may be sold on school grounds both immediately prior to and throughout the instructional day in the district’s elementary, middle, and high schools, except in an area where students are not permitted access such as the teacher’s room.

Candy:

  • Candy is defined as any processed food item that has sugar (including brown sugar, corn sweetener, corn syrup, fructose, glucose (dextrose), high fructose corn syrup, honey, invert sugar, lactose, maltose, molasses, raw sugar, table sugar (sucrose), syrup) is listed as one of the first two ingredients and sugar is more than 25% of the item by weight.
  • Vending sales of candy will not be permitted on school grounds.
  • Non-vending sales of candy will be permitted ONLY at the conclusion of the instructional school day.

Appended Document

Student Physical Activity 

The Newport School Department shall provide physical activity and physical education opportunities, aligned with the Rhode Island Physical Education Framework, that provide students with the knowledge and skills to lead a physically active lifestyle.

The Newport School Department shall utilize the following Implementation Strategies:

  1. Physical education classes and physical activity opportunities will be available for all students.
  2. Physical activity opportunities may be offered daily before school, during school (recess) or after school.
  3. As recommended by the National Association of Sport and Physical Education (NASPE), school leaders of physical activity and physical education shall guide students through a process that will enable them to achieve and maintain a high level of personal fitness through the following:
    • Expose youngsters to a wide variety of physical activities
    • Teach physical skills to help maintain a lifetime of health and fitness
    • Encourage self-monitoring so youngsters can see how active they are and set their own goals
    • Individualize intensity of activities
    • Focus feedback on process of doing your best rather than on product
    • Be active role models
  4. Introduce developmentally appropriate components of a health-related fitness assessment, (e.g., FitnessGram, Physical Best or President’s Council) to the students in the early grades and continue those assessments through grade 12.
  5. Begin fitness or activity logging in elementary school. Assist students to interpret their personal attainments and compare them to national physical activity recommendations.
  6. Physical education classes shall be sequential, building from year to year. Content will include movement, personal fitness, and personal and social responsibility. Students should be able to demonstrate competency through application of knowledge, skills, and practice. Each student will experience 100 minutes per week of Physical Education and Health instruction as required by RI State Regulations.