A balanced and healthy lifestyle is vital to the current and future success of each and every member of our school community.

Director of Health & Wellness

Mission

Wellness is “an active process through which people become aware of, and make choices toward, a more successful existence” (National Wellness Institute). Through our balance and wellness programs, RCDS is committed to the emotional, physical, social, and intellectual wellness of the members of our community – to the wellness of their whole person – so that they may achieve their maximum potential.

We Believe

A balanced and healthy lifestyle for RCDS community members:

  • requires collaboration among the school, the family, and the student.
  • requires attention to human social, emotional, and physical needs, as well as intellectual needs.
  • is essential for academic success and for preparing students for college and for life.
  • is supported by an evolving and dynamic health and wellness curriculum.
  • is achieved with a realistic and manageable mix of curricular and extracurricular programs and activities that is unique to each individual.
  • is reinforced by a foundation, such as a master schedule and calendar, that is flexible and that places value on time for balance and wellness.

Our Approach

To promote balance and wellness in our community, RCDS currently:

  • Gathers data on community balance and wellness via surveys, questionnaires, and focus groups.
  • Works hand-in-hand with families to help students achieve balance and wellness and provides recommendations for families on helping students achieve balance.
  • Develops health and wellness programs for students that teach effective and sustainable skills and strategies to reduce stress, anxiety, depression, lack of sleep, lack of exercise, and poor eating habits, e.g. courses in Health, Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction, and Life Skills.
  • Develops programs and avenues for students to develop meaningful connections with other students and adults in the community, e.g. through the Advisory program.
  • Educates the community about balance and wellness through an annual Family Wellness Day, guest speakers, and using the expertise of parents/families in the RCDS community.
  • Continually evaluates and revises curricular and extracurricular requirements that impact students’ quality of life, including looking critically at the relationship between homework loads, assessments, stress, and lack of sleep.
  • Assesses the adequacy of support services and support personnel for students.
  • Explores ways to help faculty, staff, and administrators achieve balance in their professional lives and provides support and resources for employee wellness.

Health & Wellness News

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The Power of Thanks: Practicing Gratitude for Wellness

"In many ways, our lives today are overwhelmed by stimuli that challenge and frustrate our desire to be happy. What is one to do in such an ethos? How do we protect our emotional well-being and teach our children to do the same, fostering an environment that is positive and healthy for young people in which to grow up?"

health & wellness