Dear Oakdale Families and Staff,
I hope you are all having a wonderful summer and finding plenty of time to relax and recharge! As we look forward to the upcoming school year, I want to share a quick update regarding our school calendar and how we are successfully adapting to a significant, positive change at the state level.
Earlier this year, the Oklahoma legislature passed Senate Bill 1481 (often referred to as the new recess law). This law officially doubles the mandatory daily recess time for students in full-day kindergarten through fifth grade from 20 minutes to 40 minutes.
We fully support this legislation and are incredibly excited about what it means for our students. Active kids are better learners, and giving our students more unstructured time to play, socialize, and give their brains a break is vital for their mental health, social development, and focus in the classroom.
While we are thrilled to implement this extra playtime, the State Department of Education recently issued new guidance clarifying how these minutes are calculated. Moving forward, the state is phasing out the policy that allowed recess to count toward a district's required annual instructional hours.
Across Oklahoma, this change has sent many districts back to the drawing board. You may have seen local news reports about neighboring schools having to lengthen their school days, shift their start and end times, or add extra weeks to their calendars just to make up for the lost hours.
I am incredibly proud to share that Oakdale is not in that situation.
Thanks to proactive calendar planning, our approved schedule for the school year includes 171 days of instruction and a total of 1,113 hours. Because our schedule sits so comfortably above the state minimum requirements, we still have an exceptional cushion built into our calendar. We have room to absorb up to four (4) unexpected snow days or emergency closures without breaking a sweat, though we certainly hope mother nature lets us keep those hours untouched!
Because we have planned for ample instructional time from the very beginning, we can seamlessly implement the new 40-minute daily recess requirement for grades K-5 without changing our school start or end times.
The schedule you have already planned your family's daily routine around will remain exactly the same. Your kids get the extra time to play, run, and recharge, and our teachers retain the robust instructional blocks they need to deliver the high-quality education Oakdale is known for.
We are incredibly grateful for your continued partnership as we head into another fantastic school year. Thank you for choosing to be a part of the Oakdale family!
See you all very soon!
Warmly,
Kendall Still, Superintendent
Oakdale Public School