Health Education in High School
SFUSD's high school health education classes are designed to support students with the knowledge and skills to be critical consumers of their own health and make health-enhancing decisions throughout their lives.
SFUSD requires that all high school students receive a minimum of one semester of health education.
Resources for Educators
Curriculum and policy information for those who teach health lessons.
What's Covered in High School Health Classes
SFUSD's Health Education curriculum is designed to meet the guidelines of the California Health Education Standards, the California Health Framework, and related laws and policies like the California Healthy Youth Act.
In high school health classes, we focus on six content areas:
- Nutrition and Physical Activity
- Growth, Development, and Sexual Health
- Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drugs
- Mental, Emotional, and Social Health
- Personal and Community Health
- Injury Prevention and Safety
Skills: In addition to teaching the basic concepts about each of these topics, we are focusing on “skills-based health education,” where students actively practice real-life skills as a part of class. These are skills that we focus on:
- Analyzing Influences
- Accessing Valid Information
- Interpersonal Communication
- Decision Making
- Goal Setting
- Practicing Health- Enhancing Behaviors
- Health Promotion
Healthy Literacy Model
California students need to learn skills (i.e. the standards) to increase their Health Literacy , which has been defined by the World Health Organization as the cognitive and social skills which determine the motivation and ability of individuals to gain access to, understand, and use information in ways which promote and maintain good health.
Policies and Requirements
Want to Teach Health in SFUSD?
We need Health Education teaches in our middle and high schools!
To learn more about job openings in SFUSD, contact Teacher on Special Assignment Christopher Pepper at pepperc@sfusd.edu.
Curious about how to become a health teacher? Here's a great guide from CaliforniaHealthEducation.org.
Contact Us
To learn more about Health Education in SFUSD high schools, contact Teacher on Special Assignment Christopher Pepper at pepperc@sfusd.edu.
This page was last updated on November 29, 2022