John M. Sexton Elementary

John M. Sexton Elementary has made the Alliance for a Healthier Generation’s 2023 list of America’s Healthiest Schools! We were recognized in 4 key areas:

Increasing Family and Community Engagement

Improving Nutrition and Food Access

Implementing Local School Wellness Policy

Bolstering Physical Education and Activity

This award was granted by Healthier Generation’s Healthy Schools Program, a national initiative to create healthier school environments where children can thrive. Healthier Generation recognizes schools that meet or exceed stringent standards for serving healthier meals and snacks, getting students moving more, offering high-quality physical and health education and empowering school leaders to become healthy role models.

We were the first school in Pinellas County to receive Gold level recognition through the Alliance for a Healthier Generations Healthy Schools Program in 2016. We strive to create a healthy learning environment and act as a role model healthy school for our community. Please take a look at our wellness guidelines below.

Healthy Fundraising

Pinellas County School District supports healthy fundraisers during the regular and extended school day. Sexton has taken our wellness vow a step further and our school fundraisers are ALL Smart Snacks in Schools compliant or non-food based fundraisers.

Snacks

All snacks provided to students on school campus or brought from home to share must meet Smart Snacks guidelines. You can check a food's compliance using the Alliance Product Calculator by following this link

https://foodplanner.healthiergeneration.org/calculator/ 

Rewards and Class Celebrations

Rewards given to students will not be food based . Classroom and schoolwide celebrations will include only foods that are Smart Snack Compliant. This includes birthday celebrations. The exception will be on only two days a year (Halloween and Valentine's Day) where students will be allowed to have food of minimal nutritional value on campus.

Recess and Physical Activity Breaks

All students will receive 20 minutes of recess daily and all classrooms will include physical activity breaks in their daily routines. We encourage families to get involved with our healthy schools effort at home too! To join our Healthy Schools Program go to www.healthiergeneration.org to create an account. Then search for John M. Sexton Elementary in Healthy Schools Program and join our team!