The New York City Department of Education (DOE) and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) work closely together to help schools support student wellness. Regular activity and physical fitness support student success in and out of the classroom, and help students develop critical skills, knowledge and habits that empower them to make healthy decisions now and in the future. Physical activity programs provide students with opportunities to meet national recommendations for daily physical activity, learn a new sport or fitness activity, and stay connected to school. Regular and structured activity should be an integral part of a school's comprehensive physical activity program and reinforce work that
students do in physical education, health education, and other classes. A solicitation will be released that will seek vendors that have experience operating successful before, during and/or after-school physical activity programs for elementary and middle schools to expand their program(s) or open new programs.
The goal of the solicitation will be to provide high quality physical activity programs to elementary and middle school students in order to empower them to live healthy. High quality
activity programs before, during and after school are built on national and local Physical Education (PE) standards; engage a wide range of students, regardless of ability; and provide
opportunities for family engagement. While program structure may vary, successful models would include the following:
• Focus on health-related fitness for students, with alignment to physical education and/or health education standards.
• A design to be led or facilitated by school-based staff.
• Curriculum and/or lesson plans for school-based program facilitators.
• Training, support and other resources for school-based program facilitators.
• Multiple opportunities to incorporate the program throughout the school year.
• Support and strategies for modifying the program for students of various abilities.
• Ability to become an integral part of the school's wellness plan and community, supporting a culture of wellness.
• Location on school grounds, or at facilities used by the school for physical education or physical activity.
• Strategy to reach high-poverty schools and/or schools in neighborhoods with significant health disparities.
• Leadership by school staff, trained and supported by the program organization.
• Appropriate number of dedicated staff to work closely with the DOE Office of School Wellness Programs (OSWP) in order to ensure close collaboration with schools Programs would:
• Be free of cost to participating schools.
• Be open to all students in the participating schools.
• Incorporate PE and/or health education learning standards and topics and include curriculum and/or lesson plans.
• Include opportunities for parent/family engagement
• Engage school staff to run the programs, and provide training, resources and support to those staff members.
• Align with school- and district-level initiatives and wellness policies in order to maximize impact for students.
• Be designed to complement (not supplant) physical education instruction and help students meet the recommended 60 minutes per day of physical activity