SBCUSD Has Two of America’s Healthiest Schools 2024 Honorees

San Bernardino City Unified School District’s (SBCUSD) Norton Elementary School and Sierra High School are among America’s Healthiest Schools for 2024.

America’s Healthiest Schools is an annual recognition program from the Alliance for a Healthier Generation that celebrates schools for implementing policies and practices to promote health and well-being. Schools are evaluated in nine areas Healthier Generation considers important to creating healthy schools.

Norton and Sierra are 2 of 879 schools across 30 states in the U.S. honored this school year. Sierra was also a 2023 honoree.

“As principal, I could not be more proud that the efforts of Norton’s staff to value and nurture the whole child and promote physical, mental and social-emotional health in conjunction with academic success have been recognized on a national scale,” said Norton Principal Elizabeth Cochrane Benoit. “Of course, this would not have been possible without the support of our Board of Education and Superintendent and our Norton school community.”

Norton Elementary was recognized in seven of the nine areas Healthier Generation considers when evaluating schools:

• Supporting School Health Services—Enhancing school health services to support the physical and mental well-being of students by routinely conducting health screenings and addressing chronic health conditions
• Improving Nutrition & Food Access—Maximizing school meal participation, collaborating with teachers on nutrition education for students and partnering with community organizations to improve nutrition security for families
• Bolstering Physical Education & Activity—Provide evidence-based physical education and integrate physical activity throughout the school day, including students with special health needs
• Strengthening Social-Emotional Health & Learning—Positively motivating student participation and learning and providing opportunities for students to regulate their emotions and learn from their mistakes
• Increasing Family & Community Engagement—Engaging the school community, involving parents and caregivers in supporting student success and connecting families to health and wellness resources
• Implementing Local School Wellness Policy—Promoting healthy practices through implementation of the District’s wellness policy and reviewing progress, successes and challenges
• Cultivating Staff Well-Being—Actively promoting relationship building among staff and fostering a culture of gratitude among colleagues

According to Sierra Principal Hector Murrieta, the continuation high school serves students who are behind in high school credits or may need a flexible educational environment due to personal obligations or challenges, making it vital that the campus prioritizes student mental and emotional well-being. With help from key partners like Loma Linda University School of Behavioral Health, the school offers on-campus counseling services and support groups, creating a nurturing environment where the emotional well-being of students is as important as their academic success.

Sierra expanded the number of areas in which it excelled from three to six. The three areas that Sierra continued to excel in from last year were:

• Strengthening Social-Emotional Health & Learning
• Improving Nutrition & Food Access
• Implementing Local School Wellness Policy

Sierra was additionally recognized this year for expanding its efforts in:

• Increasing Family & Community Engagement
• Supporting School Health Services
• Promoting Tobacco-Free School—Promoting prevention and a tobacco-free campus and supporting students in cessation efforts