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Board hears plan to expand movement and elementary career exposure; middle school PE time increased
Summary
Elkhorn presenters outlined classroom movement practices, a teacher survey and plans to expand elementary career‑exposure events; middle school schedule changes were credited with increasing PE time by about one third next year.
At its June 22 meeting the Elkhorn Area School District reviewed current practices and near‑term plans to increase student movement opportunities and expand early career exposure.
“Movement is very important for our students,” presenter Amy G. said, outlining research on attention and social‑emotional benefits and describing the district’s mix of PE, recess and classroom "state changes." She told the board elementary students currently receive two 30‑minute PE sessions per week (60 minutes total) and that routine transitions and brief 5–10 minute brain breaks are used across classrooms.
Presenters described a small teacher survey (36 elementary respondents) that found roughly half of teachers use short structured movement breaks as needed, about 20% plan at least one per day, and roughly 14% reported not using structured breaks—often at higher grade levels where instructional blocks are longer. Staff said the district will provide teachers with a choice board of vetted activities and will pilot open gym sign‑ups to allow teachers to schedule short structured movement time when spaces are available.
At the middle school, administrators said schedule changes for the coming year (health and PE scheduling adjustments and a new "win" rotation) will increase PE exposure, and the district characterized the change as roughly a 33% increase in PE time versus last year by moving health out of embedded PE time and creating dedicated movement windows.
Board members praised classroom examples—phonics integrated into movement, teacher‑led activity stations and student‑created movement productions—and raised questions about balancing additional movement with instructional time requirements recorded for state reporting. Presenters noted DPI recording rules and said the district will be strategic about embedding state‑aligned movement without increasing total instructional seat time.
Staff will return with recommended practice guidance for teachers, suggested sample activities for different classroom needs and a plan to include movement expectations in onboarding for new teachers.
