SAGUACHE – Mountain Valley School District is proud to announce it is a 2018 Healthy School Champion and has won the $2,500 Silver Award for its school health efforts.

As one of 47 champions named as a 2018 Healthy School Champion, the school’s work will be honored through the annual recognition program that awards schools and school districts for creating and supporting a healthy school environment and successfully implementing effective school health efforts that support student learning.

MVS has increased the coordination of policies, practices, and programs to support the physical, mental, emotional and social needs of students and reduce barriers to learning. Teachers are implementing Social Emotional Learning curriculum, prevention strategies and utilizing the geodesic dome to enhance nutritional curriculum.

Students are eating nutritious snacks and drinking water in the classroom instead of sugary drinks.

Healthy School Champions Recognition is presented by Colorado Education Initiative (CEI) and Colorado’s Healthy Schools Successful Students, and sponsored by The Colorado Health Foundation.

“At CEI, we see the positive impact healthy school environments have on student success and this annual celebration program allows us to recognize and celebrate schools and school districts that are succeeding at this important work,” said CEI Director of School Health Amy Dyett. “These schools and districts have successfully demonstrated the critical link between student health and academic achievement and we’re excited to present this year’s 2018 Healthy School Champions award to Mountain Valley School District.”

Schools and school districts are awarded based on their implementation of best practices in school health, captured through an assessment tool called Smart Source, a narrative outlining their work, and letters of support. “For the winning schools and districts, health and wellness is embedded into the culture and systems. It’s about having an intentional investment to meet the needs of their students and staff in order to achieve academically,” added Dyett.

In addition, all winning champions are highlighted in the Colorado Healthy School Champions annual magazine. The program has given over 315 awards, granting more than $350,000 over the past eight years in the range of $300 to $7,500 per champion.

About Colorado Education Initiative

For 10 years, Colorado Education Initiative (CEI) has been at the forefront of improvement, innovation, and change in Colorado’s public education system. It is a statewide nonprofit organization that invests time, expertise, and dollars in K-12 public education. It is rooted in a vision of equitable outcomes for every kid that drives a strong bias for action focused on sustainable change to the system. Over the years, CEI has worked with educators as an inspired and supportive partner on the ground in over 150 urban, suburban, and rural school districts. It is known as a visionary organization that fuses best practices with innovation that is tuned into today’s school dynamic and always mindful of what the future demands.

About Colorado’s Healthy Schools Successful Students

Colorado’s Healthy Schools Successful Students represents a diverse set of stakeholders who are passionate about students, health, and education in Colorado. Working together, they are partnering in new, better ways — thanks to a deliberate investment of time and money. Their vision is that all Colorado youth are healthy and reach their full potential. Their bold goal, is that by 2025, all Colorado K12 public schools provide an environment and culture that integrates health and wellness equitably for all students and staff.

About The Colorado Health Foundation

The Colorado Health Foundation works to make Colorado the healthiest state in the nation by ensuring that all Colorado kids are fit and healthy and that all Coloradans achieve stable, affordable and adequate health coverage to improve their health with support from a network of primary health care and community services. To advance their mission, the Foundation engages the community through grant-making, public policy and advocacy, private sector engagement, strategic communications, evaluation for learning and assessment and by operating primary care residency training programs. For more information, please visit www.ColoradoHealth.org.