How a lifestyle-focused model helped New Haven PE programs recover from COVID-19
Zoe Berg
Before the COVID-19 pandemic began, students in New Haven’s physical education programs were passing the four parts of the state fitness test at 51 percent, slightly above the Connecticut average of 49 percent. In 2023, following two years of remote PE due to the pandemic, the percentage of K-8 students passing the fitness test plummeted to a mere 25 percent, according to Erik Patchkofsky, director of physical education, health and athletics at NHPS.
Now, according to Patchkofsky, students “have improved significantly” from their pandemic years. District representatives say the drastic improvement was made possible through the introduction of a renewed emphasis on lifestyle education — prioritizing long-term engagement with physical fitness and well-being over simple sport playing.
As COVID-19 disrupted education systems across the country, physical education classes were among the hardest hit, with student engagement plummeting, according to Patchkofsky. When schools finally reopened after a year and a half of virtual learning, many faced significant challenges in re-engaging students through various formats. However, much has changed since then. Through initiatives like biking, hiking and climbing programs, NHPS PE programs have sought to provide opportunities for lifelong physical activity.
“It’s incredible to see how lively and engaged our students are in PE now,” Chad Rowan, a PE teacher at East Rock Magnet School told the News. “The shift toward long-term fitness goals has really transformed the way we approach physical education — it’s not just about today’s game, it’s about building habits for life.”
What changed during the pandemic?
COVID-19 dramatically shifted the education style of PE teachers; with instruction through screens instead of in-person, some students barely made it to class. Anthony Fraioli, a PE teacher at Fair Haven School, shared with the News that his school quickly adopted Google Classroom in March 2020 and led lessons virtually. However, Fraioli noted that many of his students stopped attending class when it was moved online.
When school resumed in August 2020, classes were conducted entirely remotely. Although students had the option to return in person in January 2021, most stayed home, Fraioli said. As a result, the class content had to focus primarily on personal fitness rather than sports, seeing as teachers were unable to continue with the traditional sports-based curriculum without access to the gym equipment.
Before the pandemic, PE classes at Hill Central Academy met twice a week for 45 minutes, according to Gregory Stone, a PE teacher there. Students sat in assigned spots on the floor, and were required to wear gym sneakers. Each session began with a 10-minute warm-up focused on upper body, core and cardio.
In the latter part of the class, students were tasked with completing a drill or game related to a sport, such as hockey or basketball.
But when the pandemic hit, students were stuck behind a screen, watching video demonstrations of various fitness moves and attempting to do them on their own. Many students, like Haven P., now a sixth grader at East Rock, missed in-person PE class. If nothing else, it gave him a chance to be around classmates and see people face-to-face. The virtual version, he said, was at best “unmemorable” and at worst “annoying.”
“Students weren’t interested in doing fitness the first thing in the morning and many refused to turn their videos on,” Rowan said. “Some students were playing video games while others practiced putting their makeup on. Many were used to missing PE classes and teachers could only go as low as D on report cards during the pandemic.”
Fraioli didn’t know if most of his students were actually engaged in the activity or not. Chris Bosse, a PE teacher at Edgewood Magnet School, said that most of his students had their screens turned off. And even Jocelyn R., now a sophomore at Wilbur Cross High School, agreed that almost no one she knew paid attention to virtual PE classes, especially as the school year went on. Dana, another student at Wilbur Cross, didn’t even remember going to PE at all during the pandemic.
The decrease in attendance and student engagement during the pandemic in New Haven represented a much larger trend across the country. Before the pandemic, only 15 percent of students were chronically absent, or missed more than 10 percent of school, according to the American Enterprise Institute. During the pandemic, that number doubled to 28 percent. High-poverty, high-minority and urban districts like NHPS were hurt the most. These negative effects were particularly worse in New Haven because the school district operated virtually for a longer span of time when compared to other districts across the country.
According to Jennifer Hankenson, assistant professor of orthopedics at the Yale School of Medicine, there’s evidence to suggest that if kids don’t do some type of physical activity for 60 minutes a day, they’re at higher risk for health problems as they age.
“Health problems include obesity, high blood pressure, cancer, and cardiovascular diseases start to occur at a younger age,” Hankenson told the News. “Students across the country were less active during COVID-19, which contributed to a higher presence of cardiovascular diseases among youth.”
Regular physical activity in school not only supports physical health but also enhances students’ emotional and brain development and concentration, according to Hankenson. For those that exercise more often, the hippocampus — the part of the brain involved with learning — is larger than in the brains of those who don’t exercise as often.
Bosse said that since most of his students at Edgewood Magnet School live in apartment complexes, they did not have many opportunities to go outside and engage in physical activity. He also added that some of his middle-school students took on caregiver responsibilities for their younger siblings during the pandemic, which meant they had less opportunities to engage in physical activity.
A rocky return to classrooms after COVID-19
When students returned to school after a year and a half of virtual learning, many expressed that they were excited to be back. However, the adjustment period was challenging for both students and PE teachers alike as they worked to rebuild fitness levels and classroom dynamics.
Many of Rowan’s students left school as fourth graders and came back as seventh graders, void of various social and emotional developmental skills. As students returned to in-person learning, the effects of prolonged social isolation became evident across various aspects of student life, including physical education, where group activities and peer interaction had been central.
“Kids… argued more, as students didn’t know how to navigate differences and disagreements,” Fraioli said. “If somebody cuts somebody in line during a drill, they struggle with some of the social and communicative aspects of interacting and getting along with other students. This led to me and other teachers stepping into issues that should’ve been resolved among students.”
Upon returning to in-person schooling in fall 2021, Bosse described the school gym as “quiet, almost eerie.” He noted that kids were more withdrawn than they had been prior to the pandemic, and said he found it difficult to encourage students to practice teamwork and sportsmanship skills. Jocelyn said PE classes after COVID-19 felt weirdly similar to virtual classes, as social distancing guidelines forced her to remain physically separated from her peers even when they played on the same basketball court.
Stone said that, immediately after returning to in-person learning, his students appeared more anxious, and were more likely to act out in class than they were prior. According to Fraioli, the anxiety led to lower participation in PE classes as students disobeyed rules.
Jocelyn said she felt that many students began treating PE with less seriousness both during and in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic, often skipping class, showing up late, or being “openly disrespectful” to teachers. Since physical education does not factor into students’ GPA at NHPS K-8 schools, some students felt it wasn’t worth their time or effort.
All of these factors combined to produce the drastically decreased passing rate on the state fitness test, according to Patchkofsky.
“When I reviewed my scores from previous years, I noticed a dip,” Bosse said. “It could have been because students weren’t fully engaged or used to returning to the same routine. Another factor was that during COVID, many kids weren’t as active or moving around as much, which likely contributed to the decline, especially depending on their home environments.”
How New Haven’s PE programs have recovered
When students returned to in-person learning in 2021, Patchkofsky and four PE teachers in the district agreed that the pandemic shifted the focus of PE more toward student fitness as opposed to teamwork and communication skills. With social distancing still in effect, traditional group activities were limited, so students engaged in more individual, fitness-based exercises.
“When we returned, students still had to stay six feet apart, so we marked spots on the gym floor and limited how many could be inside. Most activities stayed fitness-based since close contact wasn’t allowed,” Bosse said.
Five years after COVID, PE teachers said their classrooms are finally returning to normal. Fitness test passing rates are climbing back to pre-pandemic levels, and for the first time since 2020, PE teachers like Rowan said they feel like they are “regaining their footing in the classroom.”
As the district director of athletics, Patchkofsky decided to implement district-wide, year-round fitness tests in 2022, rather than just administering the tests at the beginning of the school year, an approach that enables teachers to track student growth over time. It’s no longer just about passing a score, Patchkofsky said. Instead, it provides a means for teachers to ensure that their students are continuously improving, and to help them build healthy habits over time. Now, instead of general movement during warm-ups, students focus on practicing specific components of the fitness test.
There’s a growing shift from sport-based to more fitness-based health, where the impetus is not only on learning sports but also about staying healthy and valuing personal fitness and long-term movement skills. According to Hankenson, it’s still important to include sport education into PE classes as they pique interest in movement and encourage students to transition to high school sports. They are an effective motivator for activeness for many students. However, for the students who’s not as involved and to encourage long-term participation in physical activities, the addition of a lifestyle approach is recommended.
“I am a strong advocate of this because when they come home and they talk to their parents, they’re going to be excited about fitness,” Hankenson said. “It’s not just influencing their life, it’s influencing their family’s life too. If kids are really excited and want to be healthier because they know the benefits of it, they may be influencing their parents’ behavior as well.”
Hankenson also believes that promoting lifestyle-based physical activity in schools can help students see it not just as exercise, but as a powerful tool for a healthy lifestyle. Hankenson believes that to build a healthier population and prevent future strain on our medical infrastructure, it is necessary to be “proactive.” For Hankenson, this starts with teaching young people that consistent physical activity is an effective forms of prevention
Recent changes to PE programs
After the pandemic, Bosse extended his warm-ups to include more dynamic movements, stretching, and chair exercises to help students gradually rebuild their mobility and comfort with physical activity. He points out that COVID-19 opened his eyes to various online resources in yoga, cardio and kickboxing, which not only helped students stay active during the pandemic but also fostered a greater appreciation for physical activity, encouraging them to value fitness as a lifelong habit.
“Kids are able to now say, ‘I’m stuck in the house right now. I really can’t go outside. It’s winter time, and I really want to move. I remember what Coach Bosse did in class today and I want to check that out,” Bosse said. “It gives my students more of an idea of what’s out there in fitness, instead of just sports-driven activities.”
Some schools, like Edgewood, now offer alternate PE programs like Project Pride, where students do outdoor activities and learn about leadership and team building. Due to budget constraints, Project Pride can only serve five schools at a time. According to Bosse, these programs promote a more lifestyle-based approach to fitness, helping students see physical activity as something meaningful and sustainable beyond the classroom.
In 2025, Mayor Justin Elicker launched a new biking program for second graders in New Haven, inspired by a similar initiative in Washington, D.C. Over the course of six weeks, local biking enthusiasts and PE teachers teamed up to teach students essential biking skills. The curriculum included bike inspection, safe riding techniques, speed management, traffic awareness and hand signaling. For beginners, lessons started with balancing and pedaling. By the end of the program, students gained confidence and competence on two wheels, making strides toward safer, more active lifestyles.
In some schools, PE classes have begun to focus on the emotional and social development of students, in addition to physical activity. As seen in the pandemic, students who were unable to manage themselves get no work done. Therefore, PE teachers like Rowan and Glickman on fostering attitudes, bettering self-management skills, respect and problem-solving skills.
Rowan helps students develop healthier emotional responses by training them to manage their reactions to distress in a more measured way, rather than reacting impulsively or excessively. By practicing self-regulation and learning to stay composed in challenging situations, students can build emotional resilience and improve their ability to navigate social interactions with control.
As of last month, there’s been a no-phone policy in New Haven schools, including in PE classes. Phones are now placed in Yonder pouches, lockable compartments that store cell phones until the end of the school day. Before this, Rowan said students were highly distracted on their phones as some would text in class, shoot videos or harass other students with their phones. However, as of now at least, the no-phone policy is doing wonders in terms of concentration.
Patchkofsky said that in recent years, they no longer equate fitness test scores with PE grades, recognizing the wide range of abilities students bring to class. While one student may struggle to complete a single push-up, another may breeze through ten. What matters most is effort and growth over time. Reflecting this mindset, Glickman applies the same fitness standards to both girls and boys — believing that equal expectations promote fairness and push all students to reach their full potential, regardless of gender.
It’s not only teachers appreciating the changes to the PE programs — students appreciate the changes as well. Gigi, a sixth grader at East Rock said that PE helps her concentrate in the classroom. Haven added that he appreciated how PE helps him stay physically in shape.
Enduring struggles
Despite significant progress in the aftermath of COVID-19, other factors — such as the relatively small size of gymnasiums — poses challenges to PE programs in the city.
Stone explained that teaching 50 students at once — even with two instructors — is far more challenging than managing a smaller class alone. Whether it’s organizing a baseball game or running a fitness drill, the large group size makes it nearly impossible to keep everyone active at the same time. As a result, some students are left waiting on the sidelines.
The gymnasiums at most schools in New Haven accommodate 60 students, yet Hankenson and other PE teachers suggest it’s meant to support only 20 students. However, since middle-schoolers take up more space than kindergarteners, this can create challenges in terms of the feasibility of different activities.
“Even with two of us, managing over 50 kids is still challenging due to limited equipment and space,” Stone said. “When you have that many students moving around, it really becomes all about maintaining safety”
With larger class sizes, these challenges can feel more significant. Fair Haven Middle School, for example, uses curtains to divide the basketball court so that multiple gym classes can occur simultaneously.
With a small class size, students can be more attentive, and be more engaged and hands-on with the material. Additionally, Stone says gym teachers can get four times as much done than if they had two double classes because there would be more equipment for the students to work with.
PE training programs for teachers do little to prepare instructors for the struggles of maintaining a large class size, according to Rowan. At Southern Connecticut University, which boasts one of the best programs for PE education in the country, students practice teaching classes filled of at most 25 students — a reality that does not reflect the experience of gym teachers at NHPS.
“You get thrown into a school and you’re like, ‘Whoa, what is co teaching? What are 50 kids?” Rowan said.
Some teachers like Rowan and Fraioli combat this by having a set “routine,” which includes things like having students sit in the same spot for every class, as well as fostering a culture of listening and respect to help manage large class sizes.
Another struggle PE teachers cited is the infrequency of classes. Most schools only offer two PE sessions a week, rather than making it a daily activity.
At schools like Edgewood, seventh and eighth grade students have PE just once a week, as their usual PE time is shared with music, dance, or other artistic electives. Furthermore, students report not having as much time for self-guided physical activity as they get older. It becomes difficult to effectively convey the importance of regular physical activity with such limited time according to Stone. Parents, like Hankenson, feel schools should be doing more.
“We’re sitting in our seats most of the day,” Gigi said. “You can ask for a break if you need one, but most don’t. The only daily physical activity we have is walking up the stairs.”
To encourage students to stay active throughout the school day, teachers like Fraioli would regularly open the gym during lunchtime, giving students the opportunity to engage in physical activities such as basketball or volleyball, promoting both fitness and an active lifestyle.
“More PE sessions per week would give the students an opportunity to improve their physical and mental health”, Fraioli said. “They would be more active which would result in an academic boost as well. If there were smaller class sizes, it would result in more individual attention and increased participation/movement.”
In 2023, about one in six students met federal recommendations for both aerobic physical activity and muscle-strengthening activity.
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