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Physical Education

The mission of the District 65 Physical Education Department is to educate minds, develop healthy bodies, and promote positive attitudes towards lifetime physical activity, fitness, and sports skills. With a quality physical education program in place, each student will be empowered with the knowledge and skills necessary to make responsible lifestyle choices that directly impact his/her health and well-being. 

Vision: District 65 will provide a Comprehensive Physical Education program that is dedicated to creating an environment that allows students to understand and to display cooperative social skills, teamwork, peer interaction, leadership, sportsmanship, positive attitude, self-esteem and enjoyment. The curriculum will create a setting of current information, technology and equipment to meet the needs of individual students.

Components of a High-Quality Physical Education Program

District 65 recognizes that quality physical education programs help students develop physical competence, health-related fitness, positive attitudes about physical activity, and cognitive understanding, all of which allow students to adopt healthy and physically active lifestyles.

As such, District 65 identifies the following as four components of a high-quality physical education program:

  1. Opportunity to Learn
    All students must have access to regular physical education. Physical fitness should be consistent with class size, and students should have access to adequate equipment and facilities.

  2. Meaningful Content
    Physical education programs should have a written, sequential curriculum for all grades, which is based on state and/or national standards for physical education. Physical education instruction in motor skills should be designed to enhance the physical, social/emotional, and mental development of each child and should help children understand, improve, and maintain their physical well-being. It should also provide many opportunities to improve social and cooperative skills and develop a multicultural perspective.

  3. Appropriate Instruction
    Appropriate instruction involves the full inclusion of all students, well-designed lessons, lessons that support out-of-school learning and practice, and an abundance of opportunities for class activities. Physical activity should never be used or withheld as punishment and should always be regularly assessed as a way to monitor and reinforce student learning.

  4. Student and Program Assessment
    Assessment should always remain an ongoing, vital part of physical education programs and student assessments should always be aligned with state and national physical education standards. Physical education program elements should be assessed in order to ensure they support a quality physical education.

Illinois/National PE Standards

  • Standard 1 (Illinois State Goal 19)
    The physically literate individual demonstrates competency in a variety of motor skills and movement patterns.
  • Standard 2 (Illinois State Goal 19)
    The physically literate individual applies knowledge of concepts, principles, strategies and tactics related to movement and performance.
  • Standard 3 (Illinois State Goal 20)
    The physically literate individual demonstrates the knowledge and skills to achieve and maintain a health-enhancing level of physical activity and fitness.
  • Standard 4 (Illinois State Goal 20)
    The physically literate individual exhibits responsible personal and social behavior that respects self and others.
  • Standard 5 (Illinois State Goal 21)
    The physically literate individual recognizes the value of physical activity for health, enjoyment, challenge, self-expression and/or social interaction.

FITNESSGRAM Testing

District 65 physical education teachers administer FITNESSGRAM tests in the Fall and the Spring to monitor fitness levels for all middle school students. Their performance on the tests will be compared to Healthy Fitness Zone standards to provide a measurement of overall health and track their progress in meeting the individual fitness goals that students have set for themselves.