About Playworks Portland
Our local vision: One day every child in the Pacific Northwest will get to experience a great recess at school
History
In 1996, Jill Vialet was sitting across from a principal of an elementary school in Oakland. The principal looked haggard, emerging from an earlier meeting trailed by three 5th grade boys. The principal launched into a tirade about…recess… read more
In 2009 we brought our trademark brand of safe and meaningful play to nine Portland Public Schools. Today, our Portland office is the gateway to the great Pacific Northwest where Playworks serves more than 60 schools across the region through a combination of training and direct service, with 13 Portland metro area schools receiving direct service programming for 5,500 students daily.
Impact
“Playworks teaches so many important life skills that work on better self-esteem, perseverance, conflict resolution, pride, cooperation, and good sporting behavior”
- Grout Elementary Teacher, Portland, Oregon
More than 300 principals, teachers, and other staff at schools receiving Playworks Portland programming were surveyed during the 2011-12 school year. According to those responding here is a brief snapshot of our successes:
- 100 percent reported that students showed an increase in physical activity;
- 85 percent reported a decrease in the incidents of bullying during recess;
- 97 percent reported an increase in the use of conflict resolution strategies during recess;
- 90 percent reported an increase in the level of participation in academic activities;
- 93 percent reported that the transition time from recess to classroom instruction decreased, which enabled teachers to reclaim at least 19 hours of teaching time over the course of the school year;
- 93 percent of staff wants Playworks to return to their school the following year
Return on Recess: 6.92 is the average number of minutes recovered daily transitioning from recess to the classroom; that equals an average of 19.95 reclaimed teaching hours per class per year and a whopping $35,134 worth of savings in reclaimed teach time per school, annually!
"It's the right kind of program at the right time. This is something really right on for our community, and something I'm very excited about."
-Multnomah County Commissioner Chair Jeff Cogen
