<p>not the fed, but then you post a link about a presumably poor choice that Seattle made.</p>
<p>True but I have more confidence that the local community will have more of an impact in local politics including schools, than the local community would have on federal decisions.</p>
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That is your view but I have seen plenty of excellent athletes participate in their fitness class while competeing at a very high level. Kids on teams who were in state playoffs, kids who were tapering for state swim, track and wrestling meets, kids who were preparing for the Olympic trials. Taking part in 40 minutes of gym class 3 days a week won’t destroy anyone’s training schedule.</p>
<p>SlitheyTove - you bring up some really great options for gym classes that more schools are incorporating into their curricula and more schools should.
Anything that gets them up and moving is game in my book - if they will play DDR then let them. I have seen high schools with a pool that just sits there during the day -what a waste. Our pool is in the middle school and every single middle school student leaves 8th grade knowing how to swim.</p>
<p>Our high school kids all have some pool time every year, but by the time they get dressed and undressed there’s very little time left for swimming lessons. (Periods are 48 min I think.) They ask the kids who can swim to do laps and work on the rest, but I don’t know if any of the non-swimmers ever actually learn to swim.</p>
<p>The last school I taught at full-time had a block schedule so kids got PE twice a week for 90 minutes. EVERY class started with a two-mile run and sometimes it was three miles. The kids were very fit; some of them walked it but not many that meant they didn’t get to do the sports. (Sometimes teachers with a free period joined in, too. It’s embarrassing to run slower than your physics teacher.) They did a lot of fun sports, because they had time. Roller skating. Jazz dance. Jitterbug. Swimming. I thought that worked well. Yes, it was graded, but it also included a paper (one/semester) on “any health issue that interests you.”</p>
<p>At my kids’ private schools, PE was a set hour after school when EVERY student participated in something. Not graded, but you had to show up. That worked too.</p>
<p>Should PE be included in the GPA… well, IMHO I think every school should calculate a “core” GPA in the required academic courses (probably weighted) and then have a second GPA that includes electives. Of course, then they’d have to decide which to use for Valedictorian (if they have one)…</p>