Physical Education
The district recognizes the positive benefits of physical activity for student health and academic achievement. The district desires to provide physical activity opportunities and a physical education program that builds interest and proficiency in movement skills and encourages students' lifelong fitness. Besides promoting high levels of personal achievement and a positive self-image, physical activity teaches students how to work cooperatively and, most importantly, develop lifelong healthy habits.
Building Better Bodies
Building Better Bodies (BBB) is a physical education program designed for our kindergarten through sixth grade students.
Highlights:
- The program addresses the state-mandated 200 minutes over a 10-day period for elementary school physical education.
- Instructional physical education minutes using a circuit/station design providing for “quality minutes”.
- BBB identifies age-appropriate physical education skills, emphasizing fitness as well as health and nutritional information.
- It provides a user-friendly program for teachers that will enhance elementary students’ knowledge of ways to build and keep their bodies healthy.
The curriculum is aligned with the California Physical Education Content Standards and Common Core State Standards.
California Physical Fitness Test
Every year in schools across California, 5th, 7th, and 9th-grade students are required to participate in the California Physical Fitness Test (PFT) also known as the FITNESSGRAM®.
This health-related fitness test, developed by The Cooper Institute, is a valuable tool in assessing and tracking a young person’s fitness. Additionally, the test provides important information to students, parents, and school staff in monitoring individual health-related fitness.
The FITNESSGRAM® includes tests for six key areas of fitness:
- Aerobic capacity (PACER), is one of the best measures of cardiovascular fitness.
- Muscular strength (Push-ups), measures upper body strength and endurance.
- Muscular endurance (Curl-ups), measures abdominal strength and endurance.
- Flexibility (Trunk Lift and Sit & Reach), measures muscle fitness of the trunk and lower body.
- Body composition (Body Mass Index, BMI), uses height/weight/gender/age calculations to estimate the percentage of fat to lean body mass (muscles, bones, organs).
Individual student results are reported to parents and are listed in two categories: student’s actual score, and an indication of whether the performance was in the Healthy Fitness Zone (HFZ) for their age and gender. It is reasonable to expect your child to score in the HFZ since he or she is not compared to other youngsters, but to standards that indicate minimum levels of good health. All children should strive to maintain and improve levels of fitness within the HFZ or above. By maintaining healthy fitness levels, your child will have a reduced risk of developing heart disease, low back and/or joint pain, and health-related problems due to obesity.
If you have any questions about your child’s participation in the PFT, the FITNESSGRAM®, or the test results, please contact your child’s principal. Information about the PFT is also available on the California Department of Education (CDE) Physical Fitness Testing Web page.
Web Links and Resources