Alexandria City Public Schools has been named as one of six organizations in Alexandria to be recognized for commitment to employee health and wellness.
ACPS was awarded a 2015 Healthy Workplace Award by Work Well, Live Well, the newest working group of the Partnership for a Healthier Alexandria.
The award is recognition for the commitment to the health and wellness of both students and staff in the ACPS 2020 Strategic Plan. ACPS is one of the first school divisions in Virginia to include a health and wellness goal in its strategic plan. ACPS 2020 pledges to promote workplace wellness and encourage healthy life style choices, fostering a healthy work environment for all staff members.
“Studies reveal that schools with happy adults have kids that do better academically, so we feel that we are going to see gains all around,” said Michael Humphreys, Instructional Specialist for Health, Physical Education and Family Life education at ACPS.
In 2015, ACPS launched a wellness committee and met with Wellness Champions from each school and each department at Central Office to explore the creation of a meaningful, sustainable and robust wellness program that would make a difference in the lives of ACPS employees. This spring, the committee will launch an inaugural event in which schools will compete in a step-counting movement challenge, with special recognition for the winning school. Also in development is a division kickball tournament to be held this spring.
Working with ACPS healthcare providers, United Health Care and Kaiser Permanente, the committee is developing a survey to gauge employee health interests and concerns. The results of this survey will help inform future efforts of the health and wellness committee and its programs. One option being explored is the launch of an employee health fair at which employees would be able to obtain health and fitness information and learn about their individual health status through non-invasive health screenings.
The ACPS 2020 health and wellness goal is not just for staff, however. Two ACPS schools were also recently recognized for their participation in the Marine Corps Marathon (MCM) Kids Run on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2015.
James Polk Elementary had the most entries out of all the schools that participated, with a total of 341 students registered to run in the kids marathon. George Mason Elementary had 262 students register to run. Both schools received a check for $1,000 for their school’s Physical Education program and a Healthy School Award plaque. The annual MCM Kids Run includes 3,600 kids ages 5 to 12 who complete a one-mile course in the North Pentagon Parking lot in Arlington.
The ACPS 2020 Strategic Plan, which includes the Health and Wellness goal, is our roadmap for Alexandria City Public Schools for 2015-2020. It guides everything that we do as a school division. Learn more about each of the six goals of ACPS 2020, including the Health and wellness goal highlighted in yellow, in the videos below.
