School Hours - Late Start Fridays
The school calendar for 2010-2011 has been finalized and will incorporate some important changes. With a later start date – August 20 – students will use that first day on Friday to get oriented, meet their teachers, learn classroom procedures, and get back into the swing of school. The August 20 start date allows the district to maximize federal child nutrition reporting which could have a significant financial impact next year. In a year when budget constraints are looming, each opportunity to grow our revenue becomes more critical. Winter break will be shy of two weeks, but students will be out of school for both Martin Luther King and President’s Day. May 25 will be the last day of school officially but any snow days will have to be added on at the end of the year.
A more important calendar issue will be that school will begin 25 minutes later than usual on Fridays starting in September. This will allow all Union teachers to engage in a 45-minute collaboration time with their peers to have an ongoing discussion of best practices in the classroom. The classroom teacher is the most influential part of the educational experience, so it is critical that teachers study and share the methods and techniques that are most effective. Since the traditional school day requires teachers to supervise students continually, delaying the start of school each Friday will allow them to capture time to work together before students arrive. Five minutes of classroom instruction will be added to all school days, ensuring instructional time for students is not lost due to the teacher collaboration. Buses will run regular routes 25 minutes later than usual on Fridays. Parents who drive their students to school will be expected to arrive 25 minutes later. Parent cooperation to make arrangements for their children will be imperative since students will not be allowed to go to their classrooms early on Fridays without teacher supervision.
Teachers and administrators are very eager to have collaboration time built into the weekly schedule because they recognize it will lead to better instruction in the classroom. Some sites have already experimented with ways to provide this professional time for teachers and have seen significant benefits in student achievement. This new schedule attests that the district recognizes the importance of an ongoing professional learning community of teachers enough to incorporate it into the teacher work day without sacrificing instructional time for students.
During the 2010-11 school year (Aug. 30 through May), the start time on Friday and each day’s ending time will be:
Elementary 9:20 – 3:30
6th Grade 8:45 – 2:55
7th Grade 8:10 – 2:20
8th Grade 8:10 – 2:20
9th and 10th Grades 8:45 – 2:55
11th and 12th Grades 8:40 – 3:00
Sincerely,
Cathy Burden, Ph.D.
Superintendent