The Healthy Schools Program is a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 by the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, a joint venture of the William J. Clinton Foundation and the American Heart Association to combat childhood obesity in the United States by promoting healthy eating and increased physical activity among students and staff. The program provides schools with a six-step plan to implement a framework of best practices in the areas of systems and policy, school meals, snack foods and beverages, health and physical education, physical activity, before and after-school programs, and school employee wellness. The program recognizes the efforts and progress of participating schools with Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum level designations.

The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation has committed $2 million over a four-year period, beginning in the 2007-08 school year, to help the Alliance for a Healthier Generation expand its Healthy Schools Program into at least 90 percent of Miami-Dade’s 351 public schools by 2011. The initiative represents the first district-wide implementation of the Healthy Schools Program in an urban setting.

The effectiveness of the program is being independently evaluated. The best practices and lessons learned from the Miami-Dade district wide implementation will be disseminated and serve to advance the Alliance’s work in creating healthier urban school environments across the nation.

Click here to read about the Healthy Schools Program at South Hialeah Elementary

Click here to read about the Healthy Schools Program at Miami Springs Middle School

Click here to read about the Healthy Schools Program at Felix Varela High School