Physical Education

Burke's physical education program provides students with regular opportunities to participate in a wide variety of physical activities and experiences that promote the mastery of the core skills and build a framework for lifetime activities and healthy living.  We emphasize participation, effort and enthusiasm, as well as sports skills, rules knowledge and fitness attainment.  With a 3.5-acre campus that includes a small grass athletic field and two play courts, our facilities enable our girls to participate in physical education and athletics on a daily basis.

Students in the fifth grade participate in a variety of instructional physical activities at a beginner level in which they receive educational experiences in order to develop a solid foundation of prerequisite skills and competencies.  Instruction includes an introduction to training principles and activities that can enhance health-related fitness as students pursue personal fitness goals. The program includes social and cognitive development as well as physical skills and includes a scope and sequence of activities to challenge students of all abilities and skill levels.

Students in the sixth grade continue to participate in a variety of instructional and developmentally appropriate physical activities. The focus is to develop the fundamental skills in each major unit. This class incorporates more in-depth instruction on the application of training principles that can enhance health-related fitness as students make progress in achieving personal fitness goals.  The program continues social and cognitive development and includes a scope and sequence of activities to challenge students of all abilities and skill levels.

Students in the seventh grade are instructed in the same variety of developmentally appropriate physical activities as in fifth and sixth grades, but the emphasis is on understanding the tactics and strategies of each activity and the benefits of various training methods to enhance skill and fitness.

Students in the eighth grade are instructed in the same variety of developmentally appropriate physical activities as in fifth through seventh grades, but the curriculum is condensed and the emphasis is on the application of the fundamental skills, tactics and rules to tournament play in all the major units. Students still receive instruction on various training methods to enhance skill and fitness.