Dear Parents,

As you know from the letter you received from the staff at Back To School Night, we have been engaged in discussions about nutrition issues, which include how to model healthy eating habits and ways to ensure safety for students with food allergies. Because schools are a place where your children spend a great deal of structured time, we have an opportunity to model good behaviors to support and promote healthy eating habits that you, as primary educators, are teaching and reinforcing at home. We have already taken steps to decrease the amount of sugary treats your child might consume at school by looking at alternatives to celebrating birthdays in the classroom. These might include giving a special book for the class, or having a parent come in to read a birthday book they may be donating to the library, or sending nothing at all because the classroom teacher somehow makes it a special day for your child. To date, this birthday transition has been a successful one, thanks to the continued collaborative efforts of teachers and parents.

The next step to decrease the amount of sugary snacks our children may eat at school is to ask that no candy comes to school for classroom celebrations or snacks. This is especially timely since Halloween is only a few days away. We will be sending home some guidelines for classroom celebrations in a few weeks that will serve to reinforce and model a balanced approach to healthful eating. In the interim, classroom teachers will be discussing suggestions for Halloween activities with room parents and will be asking parents to plan for larger quantities of foods such as fruits, vegetables, 100% juices or water and fewer sweet treats such as cookies or brownies. We have noticed that as our awareness increases, teachers and parents have been most creative in providing healthy alternatives for all students.

Please note that additional safety practices are in place in common areas and in classrooms where food allergies are an issue for our children. Because safety is of paramount importance when it comes to the needs of children, these practices are overseen by the classroom teacher and Anne Chabot and are non-negotiable.

In the future, we will be discussing snacks at lunch and ways to collaboratively ensure that our children are eating the balanced lunch that they either bring from home or are served at school. We will also be discussing opportunities for future parent/teacher workshops.

There is a good deal of research that links good nutrition to greater potential for learning. Together we can affirm our mission statement that we "will endeavor to provide all learners the opportunity to reach their maximum potential through vigorous and creative learning" by taking steps to ensure that our children are fueled with the healthier foods they need to learn and to grow. Thank you in advance for your support and assistance.

Regards,

The Nixon Staff