Sustaining school health and wellness initiatives is rarely about passion or good ideas; it’s about leadership buy‑in and alignment. As our Thriving Schools team facilitates school health and well-being strategy workshops nationwide with district-level personnel, one of the most common challenges participants identify is how to secure leadership buy-in and then sustain efforts.
We brought this challenge to the National School District Wellness Coalition (NSDWC) conference in Columbus, Ohio, where more than 90 school district wellness coordinators from across the country convened in mid-November. NSDWC is a national community of practice dedicated to strengthening and sustaining school health and wellness, facilitated by Action for Healthy Kids with sponsorship from Kaiser Permanente.
At the convening, we aimed to pinpoint themes and messages that district leaders say help advance health and wellness efforts. Two school district representatives shared their experiences.
Megan Cooney is a student wellness specialist and registered dietician focused on helping schools foster supportive, inclusive environments that promote healthy eating, physical activity, and lifelong well-being for the Greeley-Evans School District 6 (District 6) in Colorado. Located 50 miles northeast of Denver, District 6 operates 34 schools and serves approximately 23,000 students. The district serves a highly diverse student population and more than 70% eligible for free or reduced‑price meals, underscoring the importance of accessible paths to nutrition and wellness supports. The district employs approximately 3,800 teachers and staff.
Michelle Oppen is the director of programs at Oakland Unified School District’s (OUSD) Central Kitchen, Education Center, and Instructional Garden and Farm in Oakland, California. OUSD operates more than 80 schools and serves approximately 34,000 students across the city. The district’s student population is racially and ethnically diverse, with 88.5% of students identifying as students of color and 30% classified as English language learners. More than 80% of students are eligible for free or reduced‑price meals, reflecting significant economic need and reinforcing the district’s focus on food access, culturally relevant programming, and community partnerships. OUSD employs approximately 4,600 teachers and staff.
We asked each to share about the efforts they’ve made to support health and wellness in their districts. Our goal was to learn how they have been able to capture their leadership’s attention and ongoing support for the work.
Cooney highlighted 4 key components of District 6’s wellness program, including:
- Site-based wellness champions at each of the district’s 27 schools develop school health improvement plans, coordinate wellness events, promote district resources, and complete a biennial audit on their health and wellness policies.
- A high school student health advisory council funded through the district budget leads districtwide peer wellness campaigns, provides menu feedback, and elevates student voice in district health initiatives.
- Effective engagement with the district superintendent and board of education occurs in multiple ways, including 1) the superintendent participates in student and staff wellness events, including Wellness Week and student health advisory council meetings 2) members of the board of education participate on the Student Wellness Policy Committee, which includes district staff, parents, and community partners responsible for monitoring policy implementation and impact.
- Consistent communication to all stakeholders through social media, newsletters, the district’s intercom platform, and an annual report distributed districtwide that summarizes progress toward the district’s four wellness policy goals.
She emphasized the importance of messaging that speaks to what leaders care about, for example:
- Demonstrate how wellness drives academic achievement; healthier students have better attendance, focus and performance.
- Focus on how staff wellness supports staff retention: healthier, supported staff contribute to a stronger, more positive culture.
- Integrate wellness as a seamless part of existing school system’s culture and retention initiatives.
- Embed wellness into the district’s strategic plan so it directly supports goals for climate, culture, and student success
Oppen shared how the priorities of OUSD’s Education Center have helped sustain her team’s work. Those priorities include:
- Providing students with access to fresh local and nutritious foods.
- Establishing innovative learning environments for food and garden education, such as providing support and a model for school gardens and living school yards as hands-on opportunities to learn and cultivate fruits and vegetables for their school communities.
- Creating meaningful community connections with neighbors, families, and other OUSD departments that help expand programming and events.
She noted her team uses a set of guiding questions to inform their work. They are:
- Are we integrated and interconnected with OUSD district priorities and other OUSD departments?
- Are we honoring Oakland’s history, diversity, and wisdom?
- Are we cultivating an equitable, sustainable and thriving food system in OUSD?
- Are we considering how to sustain, continue, and measure work overtime?
Oppen has supported and led the health and wellness work in Oakland for many years. She shared openly the challenges of securing leadership buy-in, emphasizing the importance of focusing on what wellness coordinators can control and influence and not getting discouraged by the things that are out of their control. Oppen celebrated the longevity of wellness initiatives in her district and the ability to sustain them over time.
Despite different experiences, both districts shared common takeaways:
- Data-Driven Communication: Align messaging with clear data points and KPIs to demonstrate impact and progress.
- School Board Engagement: Facilitate the involvement of board members through the superintendent’s office, ensuring streamlined opportunities for leadership to actively support wellness initiatives.
- Champions and Influencers: Identify and engage key advocates and influential stakeholders to build support.
- Community and External Partnerships: Leverage relationships with external partners and the broader community to strengthen will and resources.
- Consistency and Trust: Establish trust by consistently showing up, building relationships, and demonstrating reliability.
- Vision and Planning: Set a clear, long-term vision that is ambitious yet simple, giving stakeholders a goal to rally behind.
- Funding: Develop a robust strategy for securing and sustaining funding.
- Celebrating Success: Publicly acknowledge and communicate victories to maintain momentum and visibility, collaborating closely with communications teams.
- Integrated Communication: Incorporate wellness efforts into districtwide communications rather than isolating them in standalone updates.
In the upcoming months, the Thriving Schools team will continue the conversation and share best practices identified from our school partners. We invite you to share strategies that have effectively engaged district leadership and supported the sustainability of health and wellness work in your schools. Please share your thoughts and ideas with us by emailing me at curtis.j.robbins@kp.org . We would love to hear from you as we all work to build and sustain programs that help schools thrive!
