How many recesses are required at FCPS elementaries?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:our 3rd grader gets 20 minutes exactly. takes them 5 min to walk outside and 5 min to walk back in. they were on the playground for exactly 20 min. I watched the first day and timed it. should be against the law to get such little movement/fresh air at that age.

Last year my class had the first part of the reading block until 11:15. Recess was 11:15-11:45. Lunch was 11:45-12:15. The administration is very particular with the scheduled “begin no later than” and “end no earlier than” academic blocks. I’d cheat a bit and end reading a few minutes early so that we could be heard out the door at 11:15. Admin is also very particular about any talking in the hallway so I take a risk if we leave the room with any chatting. My classroom is at the opposite side of the building from the playground, so once we’d get to a point I’d let them run. We would push recess as long as we could but if we waited to line up at 11:45 we’d be at least 5 minutes late for lunch. So we’d line up 4 or 5 minutes early and be maybe a minute or 2 late for lunch.

[Anonymous]

*could head out the door, not “could be heard”

[Anonymous]

I feel very fortunate that one of my kids has recess after lunch and the other one has the last recess block of the day. This week their teacher let them take their backpacks outside and go straight to the bus.

[Anonymous]

As a kindergarten teacher I preferred 2 15 minute recesses but our playground was right next to my classroom so they got the full time available (and sometimes more 🤫

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a kindergarten teacher I preferred 2 15 minute recesses but our playground was right next to my classroom so they got the full time available (and sometimes more 🤫

We are far from the playground so it was not working. But now we can have choice time so that helps break it up and still have 30 minute recess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:our 3rd grader gets 20 minutes exactly. takes them 5 min to walk outside and 5 min to walk back in. they were on the playground for exactly 20 min. I watched the first day and timed it. should be against the law to get such little movement/fresh air at that age.

A few years ago I had a mom of a 6th grader that will come and watch her daughter at recess. It was weird. Don’t do it, it’s just weird.

Why did she watch?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:our 3rd grader gets 20 minutes exactly. takes them 5 min to walk outside and 5 min to walk back in. they were on the playground for exactly 20 min. I watched the first day and timed it. should be against the law to get such little movement/fresh air at that age.

A few years ago I had a mom of a 6th grader that will come and watch her daughter at recess. It was weird. Don’t do it, it’s just weird.

I will do whatever I want, thanks.

[Anonymous]

You're lucky if you get any. In spite of the 30-minute rule, there was one year when our child had only 15 minutes, and that included the time to walk and out of the building. Principals can do whatever they want, and there is little to no accountability.

[Anonymous]

We left for private school because of the extremely little recess. Not worth it, as privates value exercise and fresh air EVEN LESS. We are back at public and we prioritize morning outdoor time/exercise before school and immediately after. Just find ways to make it less of an issue for you.