School Wellness
Healthy schools build healthy communities. We collaborate with national and state agencies, local organizations, and schools to enhance the policies, systems, and environments that shape students' lifelong habits. Our experience spans wellness policies, meal environments, school gardens, and more. Explore our work below.
OUR WORK
Meal Environments
In school lunchrooms, small changes in service and design can inspire students to make healthier choices. For over six years, we've partnered with Arizona SNAP-Ed and underserved schools to assess and improve meal environments using the Smarter Lunchrooms Movement (SLM). Today, we share an updated, Arizona-specific SLM Scorecard — co-developed with the SLM creator and freely available to all schools.
Results:
- FY25 SLM Score Changes, p30
- FY24 SLM Score Changes, p33-36
- FY22 SLM Score Changes, p30-34
- FY20 SLM Scores by Groups, p31-32
- FY19 SLM Feasibility Report
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School Gardens
Gardens can be green spaces, ecosystems, living classrooms, and school community hubs. For over a decade, we've evaluated and supported Arizona school gardens. Today, we offer Developing Integrated Gardens (DIG) in Schools — a free, publicly available program with a four-step cycle of change to help schools measure their garden program integration and build on what's working.
Results:
- FY25 DIG in Schools Findings, p30
- FY25 Rural Garden Outcomes, p34-35
- FY24 DIG in Schools Pilot Brief
- FY23 Participatory Approach to Developing DIG in Schools Report
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Wellness Policies
Strong wellness policies set the foundation for healthier schools. For 10+ years, we've worked with state agencies and over 100 Arizona districts and charter schools to review, revise, and implement their Local Wellness Policies (LWPs) using established tools like the WellSAT and the National Healthy Schools Award Checklist (NHSAC). Together, these efforts turn policy into meaningful commitments to student health.
Results:
- FY25 WellSAT Outcomes, p29
- FY22 WellSAT Outcomes, p27-30
- Systems Approach to LWP Improvements (2020)
- Case Study: New Model for Assessing LWPs (2019)
- FY17 NHSAC & WellSAT Findings, p79-110
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