We are very happy to announce that Zach Jones has joined our staff to help teach Outdoor Ed (Recess for all grades, K-3 Sports, Nutrition & Conditioning, Team-Building and Character Development). Mr Jones, who just finished his teaching degree, has already made a big impact on the structure and organization of our programs.

Photo: Recess Games in Mr. Jones's New Outdoor Ed Classroom (Photo Credit: Zach Jones)

Studies show that regular aerobic exercise increases children’s academic performance. They also show that poorly run recess or sports programs can cause problems that come back to the classroom and reduce all students’ academic performance.

OTA believes team-building and character development should be an important part of recess and physical education; which is why as a faculty we have committed to overseeing these parts of the school day. Our teachers have been doing a great job leading and monitoring recesses and teaching sports (with help from many great parent volunteers); but the job is so important that we believe it requires one person’s full (or at least part-) time attention. Mr. Jones will be taking on that role for Old Town Academy, working part time (Tues-Friday) to create a great Outdoor Education program at OTA.