A short drive outside Burlington, Vt., sits Vergennes Union Elementary School. Aside from the building itself, little else in the school is sitting.
In this K-5 school, movement is everywhere. Dancing and stretch breaks in classrooms. Movement activities in hallways and out in the school forest. And a program that combines movement with learning while reinforcing literacy and math skills in the gym.
Through the support and collaboration of educators throughout the building, and the school’s longtime physical education teacher Robyn Newton, students are staying physically active as a regular part of their day.
Here, Newton and her colleagues explain how it works, and why movement is an integral part of the learning process in Vergennes.