Rotolo Drops Student Recess, Principal Explains Why

So long, recess. Looks like you won't be coming back to Rotolo Middle School anytime soon.

Rotolo students lost the privilege of recess time after almost 60 discipline referrals during the first trimester of the last school year, Principal Steve Maciejewski said.

"Simply put, this was a management decision based upon discipline issues and the volume of students eating lunch at a particular time," Maciejewski said in an online message sent Friday to the Rotolo community. He wrote about the issue after receiving questions about the lunchtime change.

In the past the school had three lunch periods, one for each grade level, serving 500 students each time. Last year lunch was 30 minutes long. After eating, students were allowed to go outside for their remaining 10 minutes. 

This year the school divided those lunch periods, with 250 students served in a 20-minute period. 

During the first trimester last year there were 59 student disciplinary referrals, many for behaviors that resulted in some form of out-of-school suspension time. 

For the trimester just completed this year, there were a total of 17 referrals.  None resulted in out-of-school suspension time, Maciejewski said.

"We believe this schedule change has been positive," Maciejewski said. "We believe it adds to and has helped create a more productive environment." 

Other Rotolo News: Visitor Parking Lot Construction

Work was scheduled to begin Dec. 3 on the retaining wall in the east school parking lot, also known as the visitor parking lot in front of the school's main entrance.

Maintenance workers will be doing repairs and will need to block off all of the parking spots along the retaining wall. If spaces are not available for use, please use the faculty parking lot located on the opposite side of the building.

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