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As health and physical educators, our work is focused on encouraging students to engage in healthy behaviors. We often ask them to reflect on their performance, provide their bodies what they need to be successful, and to approach challenges with a growth mindset. With the end of the school year quickly approaching, it is my sincere hope that each of you will use the summer to practice what we preach!

Reflect on Your Performance: Ask yourself the following questions. What did you learn? What did you overcome? What are you proud of? What would you do differently? Celebrate your many successes. Commit to changing what you wish had been different.

Provide Your Body What It Needs: Create the healthy routines that make you thrive! It is OK if that means completely stepping away from all things work related for a period of time. Focus on what makes you happy, confident, and proud. The better you feel about yourself...the better person you will be for those around you.

Commit to a Growth Mindset: At a time when we still have many questions about what life will look like, do your best to come at it by focusing on your strengths and growth opportunities. Challenge yourself to achieve your potential. As you focus on being the best you can be, take a few minutes to think about how you might help your students next year practice a growth mindset so they achieve more than they think is possible, too!

Enjoy your summer. Relax. Take care of yourself. Make sure to practice what you teach! Thrive.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if there is anything I can do to support you, your site, or your district.

Health and Physical Education Coordinator

San Diego County Office of Education (SDCOE)

Looking for customized professional learning or consultation to strategically tackle changes in health or physical education programming? Contact Paige Metz to schedule a district or site summer camp designed to help implement meaningful change in health or physical education programming. Areas of focus may include (but are not limited to):

Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is the leading cause of death on school campuses and the number one killer of student athletes. One in 300 youth has an undetected heart condition that puts them at risk. Smart Hearts Don’t Miss A Beat is a new, free classroom, or independent learning program that empowers young people to prevent sudden death at home, in school, on the field, at the doctor’s office, and in their future families, workplaces, and communities. This session will review program materials (videos, worksheet, activities, quiz, teacher guide) relevant to what SCA is, warning signs and risk factors, diagnostic testing, and the Cardiac Chain of Survival. See the Smart Hearts Flyer for more information or click on one of the links below to register to join us for one of the following virtual training sessions:

SDCOE will offer the following professional development opportunities for the 2021-22 school year. The sessions were designed and curated based on survey responses from health and physical educators. Currently, all meetings will be held virtually, however in-person events may be available later in the school year. Click on the dates or session for more information and to register.

Please contact Paige Metz at Paige Metz if you have questions or requests for programming.

The decision that many districts and sites have made to offer students a variety of learning formats is exciting! As your district/site plans physical education programming, it is critical that they understand the following about ISPE:

Districts and sites should note that the above requirements are all part of the California Department of Education's (CDE) Federal Program Monitoring (FPM) process and are not waived. It is up to every district and site to maintain compliance with Ed Code. Please contact Paige Metz at pmetz@sdcoe.net with any questions.

Districts and charter schools have received three batches of COVID relief funding. This funding may be used for health and physical education programming including: summer programs, social and emotional learning (SEL), equity, access to resources (including equipment), planning, professional learning, and curriculum updates/writing. Talk to your administrator to better understand how these funds are being disseminated in your system. Create a plan for how your health and/or physical education department can meet the needs of your students and community.

As you plan for the upcoming school year, it is important for decision-makers to understand that most California Education Code requirements for health and physical education remain in place. In fact, there are currently two requirements related to health and physical education that the CDE has waived temporarily.

While the minute requirement is temporarily waived due to COVID-19, it is important to make sure that district and school leaders realize that physical education is still a required course of study. Additionally, the physical education minute requirement is expected to return once COVID-19 restrictions are lifted. In addition, FPM by the CDE for physical education continues as scheduled. Please make sure that health and physical education programming meets all other aspects of Ed Code including:

For more information, please refer to the CDE Federal Program Monitoring Tool for Physical Education or contact Paige Metz.

Administration of California’s Physical Fitness Test (PFT), or FITNESSGRAM, is currently waived –  but not just due to COVID. Serious concern has been raised that FITNESSGRAM is not inclusive of all students. Gov. Newsom has requested that a task force be convened to address these concerns and find an appropriate and inclusive solution. In the meantime, the California Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance (CAHPERD) and a team of experts have begun meeting to identify potential solutions. While it is doubtful that the California PFT will be reinstated in the next few months, there are great strides being made to improve the fitness assessment process for students.

In the meantime, districts and schools should not be administering FITNESSGRAM. Instead, they should engage students in a process of measuring, recording, tracking, and analyzing their fitness through other measures that are meaningful to the student and their individual fitness goals. Below are just a few options.

How else might students track their fitness? Teachers are encouraged to brainstorm other options with fitness professionals, trainers, coaches, parents, and students. Consider letting students choose what they want to measure and how they will track their progress so that the results are truly meaningful.

The following FAQs are a partial list of the questions that SDCOE has received regularly over the past few weeks. Don’t see your question featured? Visit the CDE Physical Education FAQs webpage for a comprehensive list of questions.

A new website has been created to support the rollout and implementation of the 2019 California Health Education Framework. The California Health Education website features critical resources for each of the six content areas that include:

Check back often as CaliforniaHealthEducation.org will continue to be updated and populated with content to support the implementation of the new California Health Education Framework.

The Adolescent Sexual Health Work Group (ASHWG) has spent the past few months evaluating many of the comprehensive sexual health curricula that claim to be compliant with the California Healthy Youth Act (CHYA). The content experts associated with ASHWG expect to post their findings on the California Healthy Kids Resources Center website within the next few weeks. Districts, sites, and teachers are encouraged to examine the ASHWG findings prior to selecting a comprehensive sexual health education curriculum. Please note: There are a number of sexual health education curricula that claim to be CHYA compliant, but are not. Educators are encouraged to take a very close look at curricula that are not vetted by ASHWG as each district/site is responsible for making sure that their programming is consistent with CHYA Ed Code.

The CDE and San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency have put together the following resources to support CHYA implementation:

The CDE is expected to add significant updates to its Supporting LGBTQ+ Website this month. The additions to the website include specific resources to support educators, students, and families. Even better news is that the resources will include links to local resources in San Diego County. Be sure to share this information with administrators, counselors, teachers and families. In addition, schools may use this information to update their comprehensive sexual health instruction to make sure that students’ experiences are inclusive and accessible for all students.

Strategies for Fostering Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) in Physical Education

Created by a group of teacher leaders from throughout the country, Strategies for Fostering EDI in Physical Education provides links to critical information to help every physical educator best meet the needs of every student by focusing on language, physical/classroom space, inclusion, learning environment/class climate, and lesson delivery.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture and Health and Human Services released the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-25. These guidelines use the latest science to provide advice on what to eat and drink to promote health, reduce the risk of disease, and fulfill nutrient needs.