At Dalton, play first and fast

Taylor Jensen is cautiously optimistic about the changes to her elementary school schedule. The 45-minute lunch break the fourth-grader enjoyed last year has been shortened to 30 minutes, and instead of eating before playing, Taylor and her Dalton Elementary School classmates play for 10 minutes, then head into the cafeteria for a 20-minute lunch.

Though she wishes there was more time to do both, Taylor said it’s nice to go back to class after eating instead of after playing.

“I don’t mind, because then it gives you a little more energy,” Taylor said, stating one of the main reasons school officials made the change.

Dalton Elementary School is the pilot school for the “recess before lunch” program that Coeur d’Alene School District officials hope to implement in all elementary schools. They cite studies that show kids are calmer and more attentive if they’ve just come from the cafeteria rather than the playground, and they say it allows students to take their time eating rather than scarf everything down to get to the playground as fast as they can.

Fourth-grader Hannah Shrontz said some kids are in such a rush to get outside that they throw away their food or eat so fast they get sick.

As she stood watching in the cafeteria Thursday, Dalton Principal Kathy Liverman said, “I’m very pleased with how it’s going.”

But some had a different take.

“It’s horrible,” said fifth-grader McKinley Dickson as he trudged across the playground.

Fifth-grader Tanner Horton agreed.

“We always like playing football, but now we can’t do that because recess is so short,” Tanner said.

School officials say they’re listening to those concerns. The first two weeks of school are a trial period for the new schedule, Liverman said, and it’s already obvious that playground time needs to be extended.

Liverman said the school likely will extend both recess and lunch by five minutes. Along with the lunch break, all grades get a 15-minute break in the afternoon and kindergartners through third-graders get one in the morning.

Mike Lee, a Bayview resident and Rathdrum librarian involved in a national organization that promotes recess and active learning for young children, said he doesn’t see a problem in switching the order of lunchtime and playground time, but he questions why playground time was shortened.

“Especially now with this epidemic of obesity, it seems, like, so counterproductive,” Lee said.

Liverman said there’s no question kids need more physical activity, but unstructured playtime often leads to trouble.

School officials dealt with a lot of behavioral issues last year, and the new schedule allows different grade levels to be on the playground at different times.

“These kids need to have more physical exercise, but they need it in a structured way,” she said.

Liverman had heard complaints from two parents so far and said it’s important for everyone to remember the times aren’t set in stone. But she said she’s committed to make the program work, and district Food Services Director Ed Ducar said he hopes to implement the schedule throughout the district.

“If we can make it work, which we’re planning on doing, it has the potential to go to all the schools,” Ducar said.

The switch is becoming more popular around the nation, Liverman said, as schools recognize the benefits of more relaxed and better-fed kids in the afternoon. She and the school counselor plan to visit classes in the coming weeks to discuss things like proper table manners and carrying on a polite lunch conversation.