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Schools

Parents Speak Out Against Structured Recess [Poll]

First-graders subjected to structured play time two days per week.

A decision to structure some recess sessions for first-graders at the Martha B. Day School has an increasing number of parents up in arms, as evidenced at the Bloomingdale Board of Education meeting Tuesday night.

The recess change was originally made in November by Principal Cheryl Mallen. The new structure features three days of free play and two days of structured games during recess for first grade children during a regular week.

But some parents feel the structured activities have come with a price, as the children have been assorted into groups during the structured recess periods. In some cases, children who do not get along have been grouped together since November, the parents said.

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“One of the big problems is that we were told groups were going to rotate. If you have a bully in your group, they wouldn’t be stuck with them,” parent Cindy Keegan said. “The kids have been in the same groups since November. (Mallen) didn’t change the groups like she said she was going to several times.”

Some parents also claim that otherwise well-behaved children are being singled out and forced by students and faculty to sit out of recess periods if they do not care for structured activities during recess.

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Cara Mirabella, another first-grade parent, feels that the system was put in place to keep a closer watch on a select few behaviorally-challenged children, which she believes compromises the free-play privileges of the rest of the class.

“Any time there’s a problem or if (my son) questions something, he’s told to sit out. He’s a six-year-old boy at recess told to sit on the step, not (always) coming from a teacher,” Mirabella said. “He’s being hindered on being a good boy, so to speak, because he can’t release that energy that he has at recess. It’s not better for the overall class if we are catering to the bullies. Our first grade class has to do things certain ways because of five certain kids and that’s just not right.”

Interim Superintendent Terrance Brennan is scheduled to meet with Mallen later in the week to discuss this policy, as well as any potential alterations or changes that could be made. In the meantime, Board President Lauren Grecco empathized with parents and urged their patience on this matter while the district gathers information.

“This board is entrusting Dr. Brennan to speak with that administrator so we can get to the bottom of this,” Grecco said. “Perhaps it needs to be changed; I don’t know. Clearly, this is far reaching for this particular grade and the children.”

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