The Milford News reports that a concerned parent's quick action lead to recess reinstatement. St. Amand school reported a 15-minute recess is being brought back without impacting classroom time.
According to the article, Administrators didn’t notify parents about the kindergarten recess removal because they wanted to keep it “low-profile” until after they tried it, St. Amand has said. Also, until last week faculty had not yet met to review plans for the year and to gauge teachers’ response to the recess change.
Parents responded immediately to the change, however. A concerned parent circulated an e-mail during the first week of school urging parents to speak up against rescinding recess. The note included a link to “Recess – It’s Indispensable,” an article originally published in the peer reviewed professional journal of the National Association for the Education of Young Children.
“We found no research to support administrators’ assumptions that test scores required by No Child Left Behind could be improved by keeping children in the classroom all day,” states the NAEYC article.