Engaging School Leaders as Partners in Creating Healthy Schools - "This publication provides tips and insights for those who want to work more purposefully with school leaders to improve the health and wellbeing of students. It describes how to build positive working relationships with educational leaders – those administrators with ultimate authority and accountability for school policy and practice at the state, district and building level.

This guide was developed especially for Action for Healthy Kids Teams as a resource to support their Action Plans. Directly or indirectly, school leaders play a role in virtually any school wellness initiative – and the more effectively Action for Healthy Kids Team members understand and collaborate with school leaders, the greater the opportunity to achieve their Action Plan goals and objectives.

Action for Healthy Kids Teams will be most successful in helping to create healthier learning environments when they tap into the talents, expertise and passion of school leaders. This can be particularly challenging given that today’s education leaders, at all levels, are focused on meeting requirements imposed by the No Child Left Behind Act. Therefore, developing a successful engagement strategy requires that every Action for Healthy Kids Team approach school leaders with sensitivity, careful preparation and reasonable expectations. Most if not all school leaders do care about the health and wellness of children.

However, given other pressing priorities, many leaders often need assistance in determining how best to implement school wellness changes. The information in this guide was developed with direct input from education leaders and is designed to help you cultivate relationships or to take your relationships with school leaders to the next level. The “Tips for Success” section offers specific recommendations on how to build an effective outreach and engagement strategy. The school leader backgrounders provide important insights and information on how best to engage specific groups of school leaders: principals, district superintendents, district board of education members, state board of education members and chief state school officers. Other education leaders and influencers – including state governors, city mayors and local education funds – also are profiled."