Katonah-Lewisboro Elementary Students to Take 'Brain Breaks' Next Year

Kids need more time to play—on that, school board members agreed. But just how to fit an extra ten minutes in the day, and how to structure the "unstructured" time, was up for debate at a recent school board meeting.

Board member Mark Lipton noted that several surrounding districts had a longer lunch period, and pushed for extending the time allowed for children to eat and to have some physical activity to refresh their minds for learning.

"We believe in fresh air breaks, and keeping kids active," said Alice Cronin, assistant superintendent for instruction. "But I wouldn't start with lunch. It could take $60,000 in additional monitors to cover a ten-minute lunch period."

Instead she proposed that ten-minute "brain breaks," given by the general education teachers, be worked into the schedule. Teachers would be given the direction from principals, but have the autonomy to decide how and when to conduct the break.

The board agreed to let schools take the lead on developing the breaks. Cronin added that Chris McCarthy, director of health, physical education, athletics and wellness, was also identifying wellness break strategies as part of the district's long-range plan.

School lunch strategies

The board also discussed ways to improve the process of buying lunch, given that allotting more time wasn't feasible.

"I know kids who don't buy lunch because they simply don't have time," said Lipton.

Board member Janet Harckham suggested that on the most popular days—typically pizza and taco days—lunch trays might be pre-loaded, quickening the process to buy and lengthening the time to eat.

That was also an issue at the middle school, and the district split the students in two groups that alternated recess time to go outside with eating lunch, during their assigned lunch period, which had improved things, said Cronin.

Harckham wanted to see more options for how middle school students spend their time, such as using the fields adjacent to the school, in addition to the blacktop lot. But Cronin again cited the shortage of monitors to supervise students.

Katonah resident Robert Kesten applauded efforts to provide unstructured time to students. "If we let them relax and let their brains do something else, the research shows the affects are astounding. Vigorous exercise changes the way the brain operates."