Middle-schoolers go ‘gaga’ for recess at Short Pump Middle School

Short Pump Middle School is the first middle school in Henrico Schools to offer recess, but after seeing its success, other middle schools in the county may follow suit with their own recess programs, according to SPMS Principal Jessica Seal.

Short Pump first implemented its recess program last school year with the help of a $10,069 grant from the Henrico Education Foundation, a nonprofit that funds a variety of curricular and extracurricular programs at different HCPS schools. Since then, Seal has seen some positive improvements with student behavior and focus, with recess allowing students a 25-minute mental and physical oasis in their school day.

“We’ve seen a ton of positive impacts because students have this opportunity to get fresh air and have a brain break and kind of reset, and even have a social opportunity with their peers that doesn’t have anything to do with screens or assignments,” Seal said. “Teachers have reported that having the break in the middle of the day really does make a difference in the students that they see the second half of the day.”

The idea came from Mike Shrum, a social studies teacher at SPMS at the time, who worked alongside students in his leadership class to write a proposal to apply for the HEF “Innovative Grant.” With the HEF grant money, Short Pump was able to purchase a variety of materials for recess: footballs, soccer balls, kick balls, volleyballs – typical for activities you would see in a middle school PE class – but also outside chess sets, ping pong, sidewalk chalk, an additional gaga ball pit, and a nine-hole frisbee golf course.

“There’s some organized sports, so you’ll see some soccer and some basketball and some gaga pit action happening,” Seal said. “But you’ll also notice some students play chess, ping pong, they may use sidewalk chalk, or they may just walk around and use the time to socialize with their peers…so really it’s just whatever they need in the moment.”

During the summer of 2023, several students and their families volunteered to help set up the new disc golf course and freshen up the outside courtyard for recess – repainting the basketball hoops and adding sunshades to prepare for the warmer, sunnier days.

Allie Fox, an eighth-grader at Short Pump, was one of the students who volunteered to help. This is her second year having recess, which she often uses to walk around the field and talk with her friends, or sometimes play volleyball or gaga ball.

“Students really like it. It gives us a break from learning because we’re always sitting at our desks and it’s just like a breath of fresh air,” she said. “Also it gets your energy out so you’re more focused.”

Each grade level at Short Pump gets a 25-minute recess either before or after their 25-minute lunch block – monitored by a school security officer and a few other adult supervisors. Short Pump’s “Day 1” and “Day 2” schedule allowed for some built-in time, so adding the recess block didn’t shorten any classes, Seal said. Students, grouped by grade level, go to recess either two or three times a week – unless bad weather occurs, during which the recess block will be converted back into instructional time.

For Charlotte, an SPMS eighth-grader, recess allows her the opportunity to see friends who she has no other classes with, since all eighth-graders go to recess together. 

“You can just move around and be with your friends. Like there’s a lot of people I have absolutely no classes with, but I have recess with them,” she said. “Everyone I know really likes it. A lot of people just walk around and talk, and it’s just a good way to move around and not be at a desk all day.”

Recess also is phone-free, which guarantees that students are getting time for in-person socialization, Seal said. Short Pump began implementing a “phone-free” day from the first bell until the dismissal bell this school year, during which students must turn their phones into the teacher at the beginning of every class period – as well as lunch and recess – and are expected to put their phones in their backpacks when transitioning between classes.

“We don’t do phones at any point between 8 a.m. and 3:15 p.m., so they really just get to have in-person, face-to-face social opportunities, which we see a lot of positive results from,” Seal said. “For us, recess is meant to be an opportunity to socialize and have a good time with your peers. So they don’t need their phone.”

The school also made sure to incorporate some student feedback into implementing recess. During the first year of the recess pilot in 2023-2024, Seal administered three schoolwide surveys asking students what other activities and materials they wanted to see. With the HEF funding and some additional donations from Short Pump’s Parent-Teacher-Student Association, Seal added more volleyballs, sidewalk chalk, four square courts, and another gaga ball pit after hearing student requests.

“We held onto some of the funding to do a second phase of purchasing based on what the kids were most interested in, and gaga was huge,” Seal said. “So we’ve been able to invest in some of those that are not typical recess activities that you would necessarily think of, but it’s all been based on the kids.”

A few other middle schools in Henrico have been looking into the recess program for their own students, Seal said, although nothing has been finalized yet. Allie Fox and Charlotte both agree that all middle-schoolers could benefit from recess, but advise schools to gauge some student opinions first.

“It’s good to get student opinions, so then you have other opinions to get you going instead of just going off of one person’s opinion,” Fox said.

“Start with the simple stuff, just like balls. Don’t start with a gaga pit, because our school really likes gaga but not all the other schools would be interested,” Charlotte said. “So see if they do like it before you just spend a bunch of money.”

Overall, the experience has been a positive one for the students and staff, Seal said. The school’s PTSA, parents, and teachers have all been in favor of the new program, recognizing some of the benefits it brings to students.

“Our community has been incredibly supportive…Parents, I think they recognize that they’re young, it’s a totally age-appropriate need to have a break in the day, but also it’s short and it’s not every day,” Seal said. “For teachers who have been middle school or secondary teachers for their whole career, it was a brand new concept, but we’ve got a ton of support and they continue to be very supportive.”

Liana Hardy is the Citizen’s Report for America Corps member and education reporter. Her position is dependent upon reader support; make a tax-deductible contribution to the Citizen through RFA here.