Atlantic Highlands Parents Want Longer Recess for Their Kids

ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS, NJ - A group of parents in Atlantic Highlands is calling on the school district to allow more time for recess.

Last year, 14 minutes of recess was the allocated time stipulated in the parent-student handbook at Atlantic Highlands elementary school. However, teachers regularly allowed more when there was extra time and nice weather, said school principal Janet Walling. And on Feb. 22 of this year, Walling said she issued a new rule to all the teachers: 20 minutes of mandated recess time every day.

20 minutes is still on the short side for Monmouth County: Middletown gives 15 minutes. Holmdel public schools give 25. Red Bank and Matawan give 20 minutes, while Little Silver and Rumson get 30. The U.S. average is 27 minutes.

"Any extra recess time is not consistent, often comes at the expense of the 30-minute lunch period and is completely at the discretion of the teacher, the daily schedule, the day of the week, the time of the year, or the weather," said local parent, Erin Dougherty. "We are calling for an increase in scheduled daily recess to a minimum of 30 minutes per day, closer to the national average of 27 minutes."

Patch has reported on the ongoing problem of dwindling recess time. It's occurring nationwide and across New Jersey: Recess time has been decreasing since the 1980s, mainly due to an increased emphasis on test scores and academic curriculum, and subsequently, by the No Child Left Behind Act in the early 2000s.

Both the American Heart Association and the National Acadamies’ Institute of Medicine recommend at least 30 minutes of daily recess, Dougherty said.

The parents, who formed a group called the AHES Recess Initiative, are circulating this petition in the community asking for the district to give a longer recess. They will also hold a community presentation on Saturday, March 4th at 11:00 a.m. in the Atlantic Highlands Library located at 100 1st Avenue.

For more information, contact ahesRecess@gmail.com.

Past Patch coverage:

Bill Mandating Recess in New Jersey Reintroduced

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