Our children here in Greenwood Lake deserve a recess time of at least 30 minutes every day! Students in all grades benefit from longer recess to improve focus and attention in the classroom, enhanced social skills, increased physical activity, better mood regulation, and overall cognitive development. Offering a break from structured learning and allowing significant time for unstructured play is imperative for healthy development. These benefits can be felt in ALL students, grades pre-K through 8. While academic time is absolutely crucial for development, the importance of significant time playing cannot be overlooked. Our children deserve more than the 20 minutes they receive each day to socialize, play, and move. There is even legislation being proposed by Senator Skoufis to set recess guidelines of at least 30 minutes per day. Until this legislation is passed, it is on us to take this topic on for the benefit of our children. The proposed legislation can be found here: https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2023/S6...
Please sign and forward to other parents of our community so we can help to enact positive change for our students, both present and future.
Updates
January 1, 2025
I have been reviewing the testimonials shared in the comments and the shared experiences of your children truly underscore the necessity of this change. These accounts are currently being compiled into a formal proposal for the district administration. Regular updates will follow as we continue to advocate for this extension of daily break times.
January 1, 2025
The momentum behind this request for longer recess illustrates how deeply our community values the well-being of our students. This collective engagement confirms that prioritizing unstructured play is a goal we hold in common.
12 Comments
ABSOLUTELY. they spend all day sitting at desks. 30 mins is the bare minimum honestly.
20 mins is way to short. they barely get their coats on and have to line back up. let the kids play!
I think recess should be a minimum of 30 mins but closer to 45 mins or an hour. This benefits the children and teachers.
Having only 15 minutes for recess is insane. Children are not machines and need time to simply play and interact.
Our son would benefit immensely from longer recess time. It saddens me to think at 5 he gets such a short amount of time and it definitely affects his learning and day. Thank you for considering!
Every kid needs more recess. Or else, school would feel like a prison.
Kids need to learn social skills and communication skills as much as the rest!
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Our children here in Greenwood Lake deserve a recess time of at least 30 minutes every day! Students in all grades benefit from longer recess to improve focus and attention in the classroom, enhanced social skills, increased physical activity, better mood regulation, and overall cognitive development. Offering a break from structured learning and allowing significant time for unstructured play is imperative for healthy development. These benefits can be felt in ALL students, grades pre-K through 8. While academic time is absolutely crucial for development, the importance of significant time playing cannot be overlooked. Our children deserve more than the 20 minutes they receive each day to socialize, play, and move. There is even legislation being proposed by Senator Skoufis to set recess guidelines of at least 30 minutes per day. Until this legislation is passed, it is on us to take this topic on for the benefit of our children. The proposed legislation can be found here: https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2023/S6...
Please sign and forward to other parents of our community so we can help to enact positive change for our students, both present and future.
Updates
January 1, 2025
I have been reviewing the testimonials shared in the comments and the shared experiences of your children truly underscore the necessity of this change. These accounts are currently being compiled into a formal proposal for the district administration. Regular updates will follow as we continue to advocate for this extension of daily break times.
January 1, 2025
The momentum behind this request for longer recess illustrates how deeply our community values the well-being of our students. This collective engagement confirms that prioritizing unstructured play is a goal we hold in common.
12 Comments
my daughter comes home so stressed out. she needs more time to just run around and be a kid outside.
ABSOLUTELY. they spend all day sitting at desks. 30 mins is the bare minimum honestly.
20 mins is way to short. they barely get their coats on and have to line back up. let the kids play!
I think recess should be a minimum of 30 mins but closer to 45 mins or an hour. This benefits the children and teachers.
Having only 15 minutes for recess is insane. Children are not machines and need time to simply play and interact.
Our son would benefit immensely from longer recess time. It saddens me to think at 5 he gets such a short amount of time and it definitely affects his learning and day. Thank you for considering!
Every kid needs more recess. Or else, school would feel like a prison.
Kids need to learn social skills and communication skills as much as the rest!
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my daughter comes home so stressed out. she needs more time to just run around and be a kid outside.