More Free Time, and More Work Too

“It’s hard to have a discussion on the same evening about more recess and more homework,” Lois Favre, the Bridgehampton School superintendent, said in an email to The Star. Dr. Favre, who has announced that she will retire in January 2018 after seven years at the helm, was responding to questions posed by Jeffrey Mansfield, a parent and school board member, during a board meeting on March 15.

Mr. Mansfield’s first question was about free time for elementary school students. “Are kindergarten through fifth-grade students getting enough recess time during the school day?” asked Mr. Mansfield, who has children in the first, fourth, and fifth grades at the school. The issue, he reminded administrators, had been raised by the board last year in the middle of the academic year, at which point Dr. Favre had said it was too late to alter the schedule.

Dr. Favre responded to Mr. Mansfield at the March 15 meeting, saying significant changes had been made in the elementary school schedule for the year ahead. Lunch breaks will increase from 40 minutes each day to an hour, she said, allowing younger students at least 30 or 40 minutes after lunch to play outdoors or in the gym during bad weather.  “In addition,” Dr. Favre said, “kids will still have two ‘brain breaks’ per day, each for about 10 to 20 minutes.”

In her email, Dr. Favre confirmed the school’s commitment to free time. “We were supportive of the idea, as research does show the value of play breaks in the school day, as well as the value of play as a form of learning social skills,” she said.

Mr. Mansfield, during a phone interview, applauded what he said was a healthy relationship between the administration and the board, as well as “the beauty of a small school where the administration can follow up on issues and deliver answers quickly.”

Later, during the meeting, Mr. Mansfield shifted his focus to middle graders. “Are we challenging our middle schoolers enough in preparation for high school?” he asked. “Are they getting enough homework? Are we raising the bar high enough, or are we dumbing down education?” Dr. Favre answered these questions at the meeting and expanded on them in her email.

“The administrative team and teachers at Bridgehampton are not delivering a curriculum that is dumbed-down. In fact, we go above and beyond‚ and we are small enough to assure individualization and attention. Clearly we need to do a better job of sharing that with parents and the board (most of whom happen to be parents of elementary students).”

Dr. Favre pointed out that two Bridgehampton students — a sophomore and a junior — were selected to present research on key global challenges this week at Cornell University as part of a New York Youth Institute conference, after which they will be considered Borlaug Scholars. (Norman Borlaug was the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize winner for his lifelong dedication to feed a hungry world.)

“This cannot happen with a dumbed-down curriculum,” Dr. Favre wrote. “In recent years all of our students go on to college, and many to very prestigious schools, indicating that we are definitely on the right track.”

Mr. Mansfield said he had raised the issue because of the vast spectrum of kids enrolled in the Bridgehampton School with varying learning needs and from different socio-economic backgrounds.

“We do so much to ensure kids don’t fall through the cracks that I just want to be sure the other kids — those with a good support system at home, and those who will go to college — are also getting what they need,” he said. “I want every child in every grade to get the very best from this school.”

Dr. Favre also shared her opinions on homework and a belief that education is not limited to the classroom in her email. 

“As an educator,” she wrote, “I believe in rigor and relevance, of course. I also believe that homework for homework’s sake is not the answer. Families reading together, researching together, and spending positive time together are equally important.”

In other news at the March 15 meeting, two teachers, Judiann Carmack-Fayyaz and Jeff Neubauer, presented an update on the Sprouts Project planned last year, in which students will grow specialty crops and flowers and sell what they grow on summer weekends at the school’s new farm stand on Montauk Highway. They plan to open the farm stand on Memorial Day weekend.

In addition, Ms. Carmack-Fayyaz and Mr. Neubauer, who are coordinators of the project, announced the hope that the project will expand, by offering a limited, income-based Community Supported Agriculture program to approximately 20 families and community members.

According to Ms. Carmack-Fayyaz, the East Hampton nonprofit organization Share the Harvest Farm, formerly the Food Pantry Farm, has agreed to support the endeavor by providing training for students as well as produce.

The teachers called the project agribusiness, and said it was in the final stage of fund-raising, thanks to the efforts of five students, Madi Koral, Rachel Hoyt, Jonny DeGroot, Nia Dawson, and Max Cheng.

To date, the project also has received grants from Paddlers for Humanity, the Department of Agriculture, Slow Food East End, and the Whole Kids Foundation. Furthermore, a Kickstarter campaign will be introduced in April, Ms. Carmack-Fayyaz said, with the goal that Sprouts will fund itself and won’t need district money.