Recess and Instructional time

A child’s school day is comprised of 6 hours and 37 minutes- How much of that time is spent on instruction?  Since teachers currently receive an hour for lunch and one 40 minute prep – instructional time decreases to 4 hours 57 minutes.  Then time varies- when you calculate arrival, dismissal, snack, transitions etc. the time continues to decrease.  In reality the most time conscious teacher actually has approximately 4 hours and 30 minutes to cover – reading, writing, math, social studies and science.  Hence the discussion about recess-  there seems to be two schools of thought about recess- 1) physical activity 2) ‘unstructured socialization”.  I would not argue the merits of either, I believe children need both.  My concerns are as follows.  Since we have limited time during the day AND we are responsible to teach children to read and write on grade level- how do we maximize the time we have during the day?  In addition I do not want to lose any special area we currently offer.  The schedule we are promoting for Pre K -2 next year is as follows- Spanish 2x a week, art 1x a week, music 1x a week, library media 1x a week all for 40 minute periods.  Physical Education, either before or lunch, for 30 minutes daily.**   The physical education will replace recess.  I have spoken with Mr. Amitrano and he will coordinate a curriculum that maximizes outdoor activities when the weather is nice and appropriate indoor activities for inclement weather.  In addition, the principals will coordinate a recess time during the 30 minute lunch block.  Since there will be a maximum of 55 students in each lunch period, we believe we can feed the children and allow them free play for approximately 10 minutes before or after physical education.  The merits of this schedule allow for quality blocks of time for instruction as well as appropriate time for physical activities and socialization.  Now more than ever, with the rigor of the new common core standards and new assessments, we need to dedicate our PreK-2 buildings to high expectations and accountability.  It all begins with the schedule and we collectively feel this schedule will insure our success.

** We are mandated to teach Physical education for 120 minutes a week and it must be daily activity.  That calculates into 24 minutes a day.  There is no requirement for art or music or any world language.