How often do your high schoolers have gym/PE per week?

[SydSim]

DD-14 has PE every day of the week, for 3 marking periods (and then it's health education for an entire marking period). This is for all four years of high school.

I have heard about schools having a PE exemption for students who participate in a sport, and instead, have a study hall or an extra elective.

DD has been in marching band and JV cheerleading since the summer, so she is doing strenuous activities app. 20 hours/week. I do realize that America's youth tend to have a problem with obesity, so I'm not trying to get rid of her PE requirement completely. Her academic schedule is quite intense, so I though that since she does those two physical activites, she could possibly take a study hall for two of those five days.

Presently, our school district doesn't allow this as an option, but I'm trying to get DD to initiate a change.

So, I'm wondering about various school districts' Pe requirements around the country (and world, for that matter). Also, does your school have a PE - sport exemption? I think if she took this poll result with her to a Board of Ed meeting (along with a petition and a few dozen brave students), she may make a case.

Thanks

 

[Acklander]

I think all schools are trying to step up the P.E. requirements. DS is only in 5th grade, but last year they had P.E. 1-2 times per week (it was a rolling schedule with the other specials); this year he has P.E. 3x a week and they've ditched Art as a special to make room for it. I understand why they're doing it (the obesity thing) but sad to see the Art go. He used to enjoy it so much.

 

[aprilgail2]

this year he has P.E. 3x a week and they've ditched Art as a special to make room for it. I understand why they're doing it (the obesity thing) but sad to see the Art go. He used to enjoy it so much.

Our school added the thrid gym day tograde school last year but they didn't get rid of anything---instead my daughters Friday was 940-1010 gym, 1010-1040 art...they went to math (they only changed classrooms for math last year) 1040-11:10 and then lunch and recess from 11:10-12:10--- they didn't go to their regular classroom until 1210 in the afternoon on Fridays!! It really irked me that basically the whole morning was wasted by 2 specials, the only worthwhile class was math!

 

[barkley]

ds is in private school which is a whole different animal so i'll just give dd's public highschool info-

required to take 2 years of p.e. which is 5 days per week, 1 year's requirement must be completed as a freshman (it's a class that does a very good overview of all sports esp. the one's the school offers as extracurriculars so it can turn a kid onto getting involved in a sport they never previously considered).

no sports waiver, in fact no medical waiver-if the school can't do physical adaptations for you based on doctor's orders then there's a written p.e. curriculum.

when i went to highschool if you were in marching band or were a cheerleader that counted as your p.e. credit (but you could'nt do both b/c the cheerleaders were participating at the same games the marching band was at). marching band took up 2 periods, one of which was your p.e. credit course, pep squad had 1 period which was entirely credited to p.e.. p.e. was required 5 days a week begining in 7th grade all the way through 12th.


the whole sports waiver idea is interesting to me-i was friends in high school with the daughter of then state senator. her dad tried to get this kind of program going in the state we lived in but there were problems and opposition such that he never succeeded. if i recall correctly some of the issues were-

the state had strict curriculum guidelines and most outside sports did'nt include all aspects (and it would be too costly to dedicate school staff to review all programs submitted for the waiver),

(pre-homeschooling laws) to get credit for a course it had to be done by a credentialed teacher (almost none did the outside sports AND it was a concern that if a credentialed teacher worked for an outside buisness there could be a conflict of interest from a financial standpoint-as in, if they coached the outside school soccer team they might show preference to the pay for participation players on that team when selecting participants for the in school team they also coached),

(biggie) potential liability insurance wise for the school-if they gave credit for an off campus activity and a participant got hurt there was a concern the school could be held liable (the only classes we got credit for off campus was work study, and that was during school hours with monitoring from a school rep., those buisnesses had to be cleared/approved through a complicated insurance process that the school's insurance company would'nt consider),

and lastly (but if i remember right it was the argument that realy tipped it)-


there were concerns it could academicly disadvantage lower income students. the theory was, by offering a situation where a kid could take their p.e. class outside the normal school schedual it left them with an open class period to take more academic courses than a traditional (taking p.e. in school) peer. since the only outside sports or physical activities that came even close to meeting the curriculum and number of hours requirement were all pay for participation this meant that only those kids whose parents had the financial means to have them in these programs would have the opportunity/ability to benefit from as many 4 additional academic courses in highschool (no option to do another free period-we already had 1 built in each year for study hall, electives were out too-the economy was bad at that point in time and the school had it figured out pretty tightly how many electives they had to offer based on students only getting the set number they already got-and with few elective choices those classes were full).


my friend was pretty disappointed about it not succeeding-she was very active in ballet and spent way more hours doing it in a week vs. how much time our p.e. classes ran.

 

[PlutoPony]

No sports exemption here.

PE is required freshman/sophomore year only. Freshman year alternates health and PE for the first 3 quarters of the year, all PE for the last quarter. Sophomore year alternates PE and driver's ed (classroom portion only) for most of the first half of the year then all PE rest of the year. Other high schools in the county may use different schedules but but essentially get the same amount of time in PE/health/driver's ed.

Junior and senior year have PE electives available like weight training and athletic training.

You may want to start by learning the PE requirements at the state level. It's possible your district is simply following state guidelines and a change would need to be made at a higher level than your district.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Other....Students have to have 1 1/2 credits below to graduate.

Healthy Active Living 1/2 credit

PE elective 1/2 credit

Health education 1/2 credit

There are no waivers granted sports, band, etc.

ETA....You can take the PE credits at anytime in your 4yrs, you just have to fit it in sometime.

 

[barkley]

Our school added the thrid gym day tograde school last year but they didn't get rid of anything---instead my daughters Friday was 940-1010 gym, 1010-1040 art...they went to math (they only changed classrooms for math last year) 1040-11:10 and then lunch and recess from 11:10-12:10--- they didn't go to their regular classroom until 1210 in the afternoon on Fridays!! It really irked me that basically the whole morning was wasted by 2 specials, the only worthwhile class was math!

at ds's private school they wanted to up the p.e. time but they did'nt want to cut the extras or academics, so they eliminated traditional recesses-now they do p.e. everyday and the only "recess" the kids get is whatever time they have after they've eaten their lunch ("lunch/recess" is 45 minutes a day).

teacher says it actualy works allot better-the kids get to do an organized sport daily, still do their own thing during lunch AND no down time trying to get them settled down and refocused twice a day like when they had traditional recesses.

 

[golfgal]

Our kids have to take 7 trimesters of PE, 2 of which are health and one is Safety Ed (driver's education, CPR and First Aid). Most kids take these classes freshman and sophomore year but not all. Some kids save one of the PE requirements for last trimester of senior year otherwise they do that sometime junior year.

No exemption for sports/marching band, but I would like to see the school move toward that.

 

[bethbuchall]

Our kids have PE every other day (so 2-3 times/week) from K-12 all year. There is no sports exemption, and in high school they need to make up PE for any absence even if they miss it because they left school early for a sporting event. I do remember there being a sports exemption when I was in high school (a very long time ago). I don't know if that district still has the sports exemption or not. (Health is required also, but it is a completely separate one semester course. PE is always something active.)

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

I said 3-5 days, but with our requirements, the kids only have to do 1 credit of PE. However, it is equivilent to 1 full year of PE (each semester is 0.5 credits).

Now that we are off the block system, the kids go to PE all 5 days of the week. When we did block, depending on the week, they went 2 or 3 days.

 

[sue1013]

In HS and middle school both my kids had gym 5 days a week for 3 semester then health for the 4th. No sports waiver. It's been like that since I was in school 35 years ago. Same state NJ different districts.

 

[jrmasm]

3 days out of a 6 day cycle of all 4 years. There are no exemptions for sports teams.

 

[jrmasm]

DD-14 has PE every day of the week, for 3 marking periods (and then it's health education for an entire marking period). This is for all four years of high school.

I have heard about schools having a PE exemption for students who participate in a sport, and instead, have a study hall or an extra elective.

DD has been in marching band and JV cheerleading since the summer, so she is doing strenuous activities app. 20 hours/week. I do realize that America's youth tend to have a problem with obesity, so I'm not trying to get rid of her PE requirement completely. Her academic schedule is quite intense, so I though that since she does those two physical activites, she could possibly take a study hall for two of those five days.

Presently, our school district doesn't allow this as an option, but I'm trying to get DD to initiate a change.

So, I'm wondering about various school districts' Pe requirements around the country (and world, for that matter). Also, does your school have a PE - sport exemption? I think if she took this poll result with her to a Board of Ed meeting (along with a petition and a few dozen brave students), she may make a case.
Thanks

I seriously doubt that.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

I didn't vote because my answer needs an explanation.

Our high school has a block schedule. PE is taken either first semester or second semester. When PE is taken, students have a 3 weeks of PE for 5 days a week, 3 weeks of Health for 5 days a week, and continues to switch back and forth until the students have 9 weeks each of PE and Health.

So 5 days a week, but only for 9 weeks.

I don't believe that there is a sports exemption. If there is, I haven't heard about it.

 

[dislaney]

My kids have to take PE for a year and a half. They are on a block schedule so one week 2 days a week, next week 3 days a week.

PE exemptions for sports, band, and cheer.

 

[minniebeth]

I'm not sure what the public school requirements are locally, as my kids go to private school, (they are required PE as well though) but the schools here give a summer gym option which is nice for the kids. You have to pay the tuition but the kids meet every day for 4-5 hours for 3 weeks in the summer to fulfill one semester of their requirement (half-year). Many kids that play sports after school opt for this option as it is a lot to have the PE and their sports in one day.

 

[LBAK]

3 days out of a 6 day cycle from k-12. There is a sports exemption for a varsity player but only for that sport season then they must go to PE. Every missed class must be made up or they won't graduate.

 

[Hannathy]

Freshman year you have 1 semester of health and 1 semester of Freshman PE which includes swimming. Both of these meet every day so for freshman year 1 of your periods is either Gym or health.

You then need 2 more semesters of PE, you can pick when you want to take them, and what kind of PE you want-swimming, lifesaving,outdoor adventure,personal fitness, etc. The semester you have them they meet everyday.

You have to make up (go during another period or so many times during the semester they will have make up time before school) any missed periods, no exceptions.

There is no sports exemption.

 

[SydSim]

I seriously doubt that.

In my state, the policy says that the individual districts and schools can decide on waivers/exemptions.

Since some schools are already allowing it, I thought that the idea had to start somewhere, so why not with the actual students. Just trying to make a case - where it goes from there, I wouldn't even know

 

[jrmasm]

*** In my state, the policy says that the individual districts and schools can decide on waivers/exemptions. Since some schools are already allowing it, I thought that the idea had to start somewhere, so why not with the actual students. Just trying to make a case - where it goes from there, I wouldn't even know

I don't think there is anything wrong with students trying to be bring about change in their schools. Just don't use those poll as evidence of anything. You're better off contacting the other districts in your area and using their policies. An anonymous internet poll is just going to make your daughter look silly.