By Christine Garcia
Fountain Valley High School (FVHS) has been recognized again amongst America’s Healthiest Schools on Sept. 12. This award is national recognition for schools nationwide that prioritize wellness through nutrition, fitness and mental health.
FVHS was one of the 1,120 schools from 34 states that The Alliance for a Healthier Generation (AHG) honored last August. Schools are judged on nine principles: health services, mental health services, health and wellness curriculum, effective school wellness policy, encouraging a smoke-free campus, providing nutritious meals, fostering a healthy work environment for staff, physical education and strengthening community connections. FVHS qualified for seven out of the nine fundamental topic areas, which is four more from last year’s submission.
In 2024, FVHS was the only school in the Huntington Beach Unified High School District to receive this acknowledgment. But, this school year, Marina High School and Ocean View High School also won the distinction, meeting five and four of the requirements, respectively.
FVHS’ campus nurse Marci Mclean-Crawford and her wellness team developed strategies that would not only let them win this award, but also better student life on campus.
“That’s why we’ve pushed so hard this year. It just really shows that we’re working hard to make sure that our school is safe for students [and] that we’re doing all the good things—health wise—whether it’s mental or physical,” Mcclean-Crawford said.
FVHS reinforces the importance of creating healthy and supportive environments with this award. Students, staff and families benefit from the resources that McLean Crawford and her team worked to create.
FVHS staff hope to expand their health initiatives and resources to keep a standard for healthy and thriving schools.
“So my goal is that we hit all nine [criterias], because then we get a better recognition. If we hit all nine, we get a new classification,” Mclean-Crawford said.
