A Balanced School Day (BSD) is a different way of organizing the school day.It includes:
Three extended blocks of teaching time.
Two 40-50 minute breaks (instead of a lunch break and two recess breaks).
Parents are asked to provide healthy food for each of the breaks, when students are usually given 20 minutes to eat and 20 or 30 minutes for activities.
Students who normally go home for lunch do so in the second break which, in many schools, is 50 minutes.
At least three Ontario school boards have conducted studies of the Balanced School Day method. The research study conducted in the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board concluded:
“Due to the small amount of research that has been completed, firm conclusions about the advantages and disadvantages of the BSD cannot be made. This study did not find any overwhelming evidence for or against the BSD so principals interested in adopting or continuing this schedule should proceed slowly and track and observe the outcomes within their schools.”
