Over the past 20-25 years, recess has been cut back in some schools and completely cut out in others. On a 1989 survey of state superintendents conducted by the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP), 96%of school districts reported they had recess.1 However, in the next 10 years, the number of schools with recess had decreased. By the late 1990’s, the lack of recess in many schools received considerable notoriety.