Children spend at least seven and a half hours or 46.9% of their waking hours in the school setting, which brings a unique responsibility to schools (Beighle, Erwin, Morgan, & Alderman, 2012). School systems are expected to educate children according to adopted state standards and encourage a healthy, active lifestyle. The concept then is to increase knowledge by putting focus on academic achievement as well as promoting good citizenship by developing children's social, emotional, and physical development, which happens during recess. Yet, recess and free play opportunities are on the decline in school systems across our nation. This reduction or elimination is being attributed to the federal and state accountability measures being instituted on state assessments. The growing trend is for schools to increase the amount of academic time and reduce the amount of time children can experience recess or free play opportunities. Research is being conducted through qualitative methods to assess the purpose and value of recess in the elementary school setting in a rural school district in southern middle Tennessee. Findings from this study will be useful in establishing school and district recess policies and evaluating recess practices within the district. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]