"As a principal, I’m driving the bus. Health is very important to the success of my students, so it is very important to me. It all starts with getting the bus pointed in the right direction, and right now, I am the bus driver and we’re headed toward a healthier school."

Katherine Acosta-Verprauskus is the principal of Montalvin Elementary School in San Pablo, California. Montalvin is 25 miles outside of downtown San Francisco and is one of 1,200 public schools within the Bay Area. Out of these 1,200 schools, almost half serve a significant proportion of underserved students. Katherine and her school fall into this group of educators serving students of high need.

“High need” is not a reflection of a student but rather a reflection of a student’s circumstances. Although it does not indicate one’s performance, ability or potential, it can directly impact it. “Students who are from low-income and/or racial or ethnic minorities experience academic achievement gaps like school readiness, test performance and attainment.”

That is why Katherine started steering her bus toward health, and why she got on the bus in the first place. There is a need to level the playing field for high need students. Katherine, and principals, like her in our Healthy Schools Program, know that and use their power to lead the charge from the front.

It’s not an easy charge but it is achievable.

For instance, not only is Montalvin 1 of 1,200 schools in the Bay Area, it is also 1 of only 54 schools in the area that “achieved better results on…state tests for their underserved students than the state’s overall average for all students.”

Students in low-income neighborhoods lack access to healthy food, which means healthy food is more expensive, of poorer quality and not as readily available. So at Montalvin, the day starts with a healthy breakfast — for all students — if they want it.

What is important to note, is that the goal at Montalvin is not to offer breakfast, but to make sure students get a healthy meal in the morning. The consumption of the healthy meal, not the offering of it, is the goal. That is why Katherine and her staff also offer a second-chance breakfast program.

“Everyone gets a chance to eat breakfast first thing in the morning, but we know sometimes all students aren’t able to get here that early and they miss breakfast. So we offer a second-chance breakfast at recess. Kids can go eat breakfast for the first 10 minutes if they want to and then go play. We want to make sure their growing minds are fed and fed right.”

Between the first and second breakfast opportunities there is, of course, class time, but there is also a regular physical activity session. Students in low-income schools spend less time being active during physical education classes and are less likely to have recess. Montalvin is making sure that is not the case for its students.

Montalvin’s healthy lunchroom is crafted out of a mixture of efforts that combine healthy options, music and exploratory seating arrangements that encourage students to think outside of their social circles and associate healthy eating with quality time with peers.

“Right now we are sitting by colleges. So if you want to sit at UC Berkeley, you can sit there with that group of kids. It gets kids thinking about college, and it also makes eating more fun and more social.”

The holistic way Katherine and Montalvin approach nurturing and educating students during the school day, is the same way they engage their larger school community to ensure kids are getting a consistent, reliable message. A lot of this is focused on educating and empowering parents.

“I really focus on getting our parents back on campus. One of the things we do is hold cooking classes for our parents to learn how to prepare healthier dishes at home. It’s all about seeing your gaps. That’s why we work with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation to assess what we are doing and identify our strengths and where we can grow.”