Develop a Wellness Plan

A written plan that includes measurable goals, along with specific strategies and implementation steps for meeting these goals, can help move your Wellness Program forward. Remember that every situation is unique, and no two schools will have the same plan. These differences are normal, and reflect the priorities and resource availabilities in a particular situation.

Establish Goals and Strategies

Use the information collected in your assessment to identify critical issues and opportunities for improvement in your school environment. Remember that you are implementing a series of improvements, which is an ongoing process that will evolve over time. It is also important to consider specific contracts (e.g. with outside vendors, teachers’ unions, etc.) or other regulations that might constrain your options. The following are a few common goals and strategies:

Your school wellness policy should have helped identify your school's overall vision for student health and fitness and helped school stakeholders understand their role in changing the school food environment. Working from your wellness policy, you should be able to establish priority goals in each of the following areas:

For each area's goal, identify one to three specific steps your team will take to achieve these goals. For instance, your goal may be “to have all food available at school contribute to a healthy diet;” one step for meeting this goal might be changing vending machine offerings to meet CDC standards for fat, sugar and salt.

Timetable and Staffing

The Wellness Plan should also outline a timetable for implementation, identify responsible parties and pinpoint milestones that can be measured and celebrated along the way.

Evaluation Process

Identify what accomplishments and milestones are achieved against the goals you set out in your Wellness Plan. Highlight concrete, measurable outcomes in addition to subjective impressions to make your case and maintain support. See Evaluate Progress for more evaluation methods.

Building Support

By developing a wellness policy, you have already started the process of building support with key school stakeholders. It may now be necessary to cast a wider net to reach individuals and groups who weren't involved in the policy process but whose support will be important for implementation of the plan. Some of these might include student representatives, PTAs, teachers unions, contractors, and other personnel.