Rancho is officially a CATCH school !

This school year, Rancho has joined thousands of other schools across the country as a CATCH school. “CATCH” stands for “Coordinated Approach To Child Health.” CATCH schools are committed to helping kids eat more nutritious foods and get more physical activity. As you know, both are important to their health and wellness today and for years to come.
Helping our children make positive health choices takes the entire school community-teachers, principals, cafeteria staff and parents working together in a coordinated way. I strongly encourage and welcome your support for this program. As parent, your role in influencing your child to make healthy choices is extremely important.
A key focus of the CATCH program is to create an environment that makes the healthy choice the easy choice for our students. Throughout the year, we will promote positive health choices through wellness activities, classroom and physical education curricula, and signs around our campus and family nights. We hope you will encourage healthy choices at home too.
A major emphasis of CATCH is helping children learn to make healthy food choices. Our school will encourage students to eat only healthy and nutritious snacks during the school day. We will be using the terms “GO,” “SLOW” and “WHOA” to help kids know foods they should eat more-or less- of.

• GO foods include mostly fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean meats and
lower-fat dairy products. They are lower in fat or sugar and are less processed.
• SLOW foods are higher in fat or sugar or are more processed than GO foods.
• WHOA foods are highest in fat or sugar or have been highly processed.

Here are other ways we hope you will support the CATCH Program:

• Send only healthy snacks to school for events such as class parties.
• Pack healthy snacks for your child.
• Find opportunities for your child to be more active. Consider reducing the time he or
she watches TV or plays computer games; take your child on walks or hikes-or to the
park to play; or involve him or her in other activities.
• Be a positive role model. Let your actions speak louder than your words by getting
more physical activity and making healthier food and beverage choices.
• Volunteer to help implement the CATCH Program. Contact your child’s teacher if you
would like to contribute to a healthier environment on our campus or join our school’s
CATCH Team, the group in charge of coordinating the program.