READING — Students in kindergarten through fourth grade in Reading School District now get 30 minutes of recess each day, a change implemented ahead of a statewide mandate.
The law requires schools across Pennsylvania to provide at least that much recess — which must consist of unstructured play and social time, ideally outside — to students through fifth grade, beginning in fall 2027.
Reading School District's middle schools, which include fifth through eighth grades, currently give all students — even those who won't be covered by the law — 15 to 20 minutes of daily recess. By next academic year, that number will be 30 minutes for students in fifth and sixth grades, and possibly beyond, officials say.
JuliAnne Kline, assistant superintendent of teaching and learning, said the district was already discussing expanding recess across middle schools before the state mandate was announced, but the legislation fast-tracked the policy.
“We were seeing more of a need for time for students just to relax and really be kids,” she said.
Educators told Spotlight PA they are already seeing happier, more engaged students, but said they will know more about the full impact of additional recess time as the year goes on.
To implement longer recess periods, schools have taken different approaches, from shortening social studies classes to creating more time-efficient hallway transitions.
Gov. Josh Shapiro and the divided General Assembly adopted the statewide recess mandate as part of the budget deal in July. Shapiro and state legislators view recess as an opportunity for students to increase their physical activity and strengthen their social skills in a digital age marked by cellphones and social media.
More than a dozen states have similar legislation on the books, including New Jersey and Rhode Island. Recess legislation has been proposed in at least a handful of other states too, including New York and Ohio.
This growing movement comes after schools reduced recess time in the early 2000s following the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act. The federal legislation, signed by former President George W. Bush in 2002, emphasized the importance of academic proficiency outcomes.
A resulting high-stakes testing environment pushed schools to increase literacy and math instruction time at the expense of other subjects and activities, including recess.
“There’s a natural tendency in America to lose track of some of the things we know have worked in the past,” state House Education Committee Chair Peter Schweyer (D., Lehigh) told Spotlight PA. “You don’t need a new technology, you don’t need new curriculum to be able to encourage kids to go outside and play and communicate and build new relationships.”
Research has found that recess offers students a number of advantages. Chrystine Mitchell, associate professor of education at Alvernia University, said studies show recess provides students with academic, behavioral, cognitive, and social-emotional benefits.
“There’s been so much [research] out there that says there are no negative outcomes for providing recess,” she said.
Brian Benkert, president of the Reading Education Association teachers union, which represents 1,250 educators, said it’s too early to assess the changes, though he believes they have been positive so far. He expects the district and the union will likely meet to discuss how the recess policy went this school year.
“Anytime you can take kids out of the classroom for a little bit of a brain break and just get them some fresh air, or just distract them for a little while with some fun, I think [it’s] overall a good step for the educational process,” Benkert said.
Early implementation
Reading’s 13 elementary schools implemented 30 minutes of recess this academic year, an increase of 10 to 15 minutes from 2025-26, depending on the school.
To do so, these schools — which teach students in kindergarten through fourth grade — shaved time off other parts of their schedules. Those changes varied by school but included a reduction of a few minutes from dismissal procedures, hallway transitions, and social-emotional learning, as well as from science and social studies classes. Math and reading intervention periods — meant to give students extra practice in those subjects — were also shortened at some schools.
“We had to adjust and make sure we were on our game logistically, but we made it work,” said Glenside Elementary Principal Jay Mahoney. Glenside students saw their recess time double.
Mahoney said recess allows students to get their pent-up energy out, so they can focus in class. They play basketball or jump rope, and then “come back in the building refreshed, ready to go,” if a little sweaty, he said.
He said recess also gives teachers a new opportunity to bond with students outside of class.
At 10th and Green Elementary, students have two 15-minute recess periods — one before lunch and one after. Last year, the school had one 15-minute recess.
“Because we’re very supportive of this, it was not a difficult challenge,” Principal Erin Schorn-Brown said. “We were able to make it work without too much disruption to what we already had planned.”
Schorn-Brown said she is eager to analyze her students’ academic and behavioral data at the end of the school year to assess if the additional recess time had any measurable positive impacts.
Recess in middle school
Reading School District also decided this academic year to have its five middle schools provide 15- to 20-minute recreation periods.
Only two had daily recess last year. A third tested out recess in the 2024-25 academic year but didn’t continue it for logistical reasons. The other two middle schools occasionally gave students free or outside time at teachers’ discretion.
Kline, the assistant superintendent, said the district began exploring the idea of recess at the middle schools after holding student and parent listening sessions. At those sessions, students said they had little time to socialize during the school day, and parents asked for recess to be added.
As a result, district administrators and middle school principals began researching the benefits of recess and decided as a team that they could fit it into their schedules.
Tara Breidenstine, a science teacher at Northeast Middle School, said recess is a time for students to “be silly, be goofy, be as loud as they want.”
“Sitting in a desk is hard for an adult for an entire day, let alone for kids their age,” added Breidenstine, who has taught for 18 years.
She’s noticed improved engagement during her afternoon classes compared to years without recess. Northeast Principal Karen Hodge said students have had minimal disciplinary issues during recess.
“I think they’re happier,” she said.
Geina Beaver, principal of Central Middle School, said students may not have learned certain prosocial behaviors in elementary school because of remote learning during the pandemic.
Having recess during middle school allows kids to practice skills, such as how to keep their hands to themselves, with their classmates, she said.
“In middle school, if you don’t let them have that opportunity to release some of their energy, they’re still going to release it,” Beaver added, “but it’s going to look like running around the cafeteria or running in the hallways back to class.”
Middle school principals largely built recreation periods into their schedules around lunch, borrowing extra time from math and reading intervention periods if necessary.
Some challenges have emerged, including a lack of outdoor green space at some facilities, such as Southern and Southwest. But those schools and others use their gyms, lunchrooms, and classrooms as necessary to make sure there’s enough space for recreation periods.
Kline approved a one-time allocation of $5 per student from the district’s teaching and learning budget to purchase necessary equipment, such as balls and board games. The funding varied based on student enrollment, but ranged from $3,000 to $8,250 per school. In the future, middle school recess equipment purchases will come from building-based budgets, which is the practice for elementary schools.
While all middle schoolers will continue to have a daily recreation period next year, district leaders said they will be most focused on ensuring fifth and sixth graders receive additional time to reach the state’s 30-minute mandate.
The middle schools will accomplish this by reducing three periods by five minutes each, Kline said. Those include math and reading intervention periods, as well as an advisory block for students to focus on social-emotional learning skills.
Middle school principals have not yet decided whether seventh and eighth graders will also receive additional recess time at their schools; however, they will continue to receive at least 15 minutes.
According to Kline, some teachers have said they’re “having a tough time” getting students back to the classroom and focused on instruction right after recreation periods. But she thinks that will improve with time.
“I think [as] students get used to that [freedom] or unstructured time, then that will come into place,” she said. “There won’t be as much redirection afterwards.”