Developing a comprehensive school physical activity program for schools in disadvantaged communities

Schools are an opportune setting to increase physical activity (PA) in school-aged children. The Chula Vista Elementary School District (CVESD) in partnership with the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA), has designed a program to increase PA during the instructional day through both an improved physical education (PE) curriculum and PA opportunities. CVESD serves more than 29,000 students in kindergarten through grade 6; many from disadvantaged neighborhoods.  The program utilizes two strategies which include implementing a PE curriculum that engages students in moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA), for at least half of PE class time, and creating structured PA time throughout the school day.  School site teacher and administrator teams were established to guide each of the intervention schools. Utilizing assessment findings and introducing the “Plan, Do, Study, Act” (PDSA) cycle, site teams developed and continually update PA plans to address both MVPA and PA throughout the school day. The existing PE curriculum was expanded and enhanced to incorporate new Common Core standards. Training, technical assistance and professional development were provided to teachers and administrators to build their understanding and skills to implement the curriculum. An activity tracker has been integrated into the program as a tool to monitor daily PA levels.  At the policy level, school master schedules are being revised to institutionalize PA opportunities in the school day.  This coordinated approach to increasing PA with quality PE as the cornerstone, demonstrates a potential model for other districts to meet the national guidelines for PA.