The Healthy Neighborhoods/Healthy Kids project was initiated in 2003 by Smart Growth Vermont, in partnership with Shelburne Farms’ Sustainable Schools Project. It was designed to introduce school students to concepts related to community design, public safety, civic engagement, and personal health, focusing on the relationship between the "health" of our neighborhoods and our personal well-being. By using SSP’s framework of Education for Sustainability (EFS) and tools from Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe’s Understanding by Design, in conjunction with Smart Growth Vermont’s research and understanding of Vermont’s settlement patterns and the relationship between neighborhood development and design on public health and safety, this project was developed to support current curriculum and the goals of education standards while engaging students in developing sustainable communities.

The Healthy Neighborhoods/Healthy Kids guide was developed to serve as a map for interested teachers and school officials to successfully facilitate and implement similar activities in other communities.

Through participation in the Healthy Neighborhoods/Healthy Kids curriculum, students can form partnerships with health care, community, and environmental organizations for hands-on education, outreach and demonstration projects to combat inactivity and poor health. Students can learn about what makes a neighborhood "healthy" and improve their over all health by engaging in neighborhood revitalization and community planning.

 Follow these links for some free downloads from the Healthy Neighborhoods/Healthy Kids Guide

Introduction to the Guide - this chapter outlines the background on the partners, the reason this guide was created and a special section on "the Promises and Challenges for Improving Community Health."

Project Flow - this document outlines the steps of the project

Quality of Life Activity - this lesson plan is for developing a Quality of Life list that helps define "what you need for a healthy and happy lifestyle".  It is used to frame the project activities and servlce learning projects that students complete.