'An important break': Recess will soon be required at all Fairfax County middle schools
FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. (7News) — Fairfax County Public Schools will soon require daily recess for all middle schoolers. The change will take effect at the start of the 2022-2023 school year, after a unanimous school board vote late last week.
"This is a no brainer. We all know that our kids need breaks and we're really excited to get to codify it," school board member Laura Jane Cohen said just prior to that vote. "And we are grateful to our middle school principals, who are embracing this fully."
Recess for seventh and eighth graders is something that Irving Middle and many other FCPS middle schools began trying out last year.
"We just saw students needed to get some wiggles out, take a break from the academics," said Irving principal Cindy Conley. "Step away from work to reset their mind, reframe their thinking, or just take the breath that they need."
Those middle school students are able to choose how they spend their supervised 15-minute break each day.
For instance, when 7News visited Irving Middle School on Wednesday, some students were playing basketball and soccer outside.
"It relaxes you," said 13-year-old Fikir Ashenafi. "A lot of the times I feel like students are stressed after studying and having tests, and if you just have a break it relaxes your mind."
Other students opted to play board games or read books in the library.
"Every day we get a break for 15 minutes and I come here and play chess," said 14-year-old Samuel Stankiewicz. "It's fun. I think it gives an important break from the rest of the school day."
There's even a stationary bicycle set up inside the library, which some students pedaled while reading a book at the same time.
"The students' voice and choice of this is really important. It's their time," Conley said, adding that staff supervise both the indoor and outdoor activities.
That's something several school board members specifically pushed for when drafting the updated recess policy, which calls on middle school administrators to "create a schedule that allows for students to choose to participate in daily outdoor recess, weather permitting or a provided, supervised indoor activity".
"A break for the individual students and what they consider a break differs among students in the same way as they do for adults," school board member Karen Corbett Sanders said during last week's board meeting, citing feedback from middle school principals on the importance of student having options when it comes to how they spend their recess break.
"The middle schools have done a great job piloting recess over the past year and have learned from that process," said Corbett Sanders. "Some students prefer to take their break inside where they can quietly play a game, read a book or work on puzzles, while others need and prefer to be outside."
Conley said her staff has seen firsthand how the breaks are helping their students with social and emotional wellness, and academics as well.
"They're better workers and better learners when we're able to do that," she said. "I have yet to meet an adult who hasn't taken a break in their work day, and I think it's really important to apply that skill to students, especially in middle school when they are learning life-long skills of how to take a mental mind break when they need it."
At the elementary school level, Fairfax County Public Schools have for years required a 30-minute recess.
While all FCPS middle schools have offered breaks for their students this year, next year will mark the first time that school board policy actually requires it.
"I think that's good because it ensures we will always get this, because a lot of us really do need it," said 14-year-old Lilia Mellor an eighth grader at Irving Middle School. "A lot of times at this point in the school day we get tired, so if we can just get outside and get fresh air and stuff, we are usually rejuvenated."
7News asked several other local districts about their current recess requirements:
Arlington Public Schools, Alexandria City Public Schools, and Prince William County Public Schools all require 30 minutes of daily recess at the elementary level, but said they do not require recess at the middle school level.
Loudoun County Public Schools requires no less than 40 minutes of daily recess for students in kindergarten, and no less than 30 minutes of recess for students in grades 1-5.
At the middle and high school level, LCPS policy says that secondary schools "will incorporate a minimum of 10 minutes of unstructured activity time during the school day every other day". LCPS says that "unstructured activity" for middle and high schoolers should include opportunities for "physical or other developmentally appropriate activities".
