Namaste Shares!

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What is the aim of Namaste Shares!?

A. Incorporating health and nutrition into schools is especially important given the current childhood obesity epidemic. About one out of three children in the U.S. is overweight or on the brink of becoming so. But because kids spend a large part of their day at school, schools can play a significant role in reversing this trend. Namaste Shares! is a program that recognizes the potential role schools could play in the battle against childhood obesity and seeks to arm teachers and parents with the tools they need to address the critical issue in the classrooms and at home.

Q. How can Namaste Shares! help me incorporate nutrition and movement into my own school?

A. Namaste Shares! allows educators and parents the opportunity to experience Namaste in action. The program makes curriculum and classroom materials available to teachers, along with links to the resources used at the school.  A full “curriculum map” is featured – including objectives aligned to state academic standards and activities to implement the objectives.  Photos and videos of Namaste teachers and students help to demonstrate the activities and assessments.

Q. What does Namaste mean?

A. Namaste is Hindu for my inner light salutes your inner light.  We chose the name Namaste because our mission is to create an environment to feed both the minds and bodies of our students.  Namaste is a gesture of friendship, kindness and appreciation and acknowledges the unique inner qualities of all member of our learning community.  These are the values we hope to embody as educators and role models for our students.

Q. What is a Charter School?

A. Charter schools are independent public schools that are operated by outside organizations. They are monitored by the school district in which they are chartered and are subject to the same safety, civil rights, special education and bilingual regulations as traditional public schools. Charter schools are free to all students, and children are selected based on a lottery system.

Q. What was the inspiration for Namaste Charter School?

A. Namaste Charter School is designed to address two of the biggest public health and education issues facing today’s youth – childhood obesity and quality education in inner city schools. We wanted to create an environment to encourage children to make healthy life choices. The philosophy at Namaste is to help students achieve optimal academic performance by nourishing and stimulating the mind and the body of each child.

Q. What is the aim of Namaste Charter School?

A. The Namaste model is designed to promote advanced, focused learning and long-term health and exercise habits. This is done by providing children with a unique approach to education that incorporates health, nutrition and athletics into a rigorous curriculum. This unique educational approach seeks to address the soaring rates of childhood obesity. About one out of three children in this country is overweight or on the brink of becoming so, a statistic that has tripled in the last thirty years. There’s been a tremendous demand for school-based solutions and the urgency has never been greater. 

Q. What makes Namaste unique?

A. Namaste’s mission is to provide an environment for students that offers ample opportunity for them to thrive both mentally and physically, increasing their potential for academic success. The school day is extended to allow time for a nutritious breakfast and lunch each day, as well as physical education. Namaste’s quality physical education program includes 60 minutes of physical education each day with an emphasis on developing health-related fitness, physical competence, and cognitive understanding about physical activity. The school operates year-round, with students receiving the months of December, April and August off, during which time free activities are offered through community partners.

Q. What kind of results has Namaste experienced?

A. Nearly two years after its founding, Namaste, located in a largely Hispanic neighborhood with low test scores and high obesity rates, has already experienced remarkable results. The students have become more physically active and have not experienced the typical increases in BMI (body mass index) associated with rising rates of obesity. A recent evaluation of the two-year-old school found that the percentage of students who were overweight decreased and students increased their vigorous physical activity by 46.7 percent. Namaste Charter School is also making a true impact in the community. In a city where most kids fall short of the state’s literacy goals, 80 percent of the students at Namaste are doing better than the city average.

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