4 Day School Week

In Peetz Colorado a debate is going on four a four day school week. I believe that if we go to a four day school week that it would help the kids physically, mentally, and financially. This would help not only our school but also the parents if they cant afford the gas. These will be some pros of a four day school week.

This would allow the instructor to better connect with his or her pupils. Also, according to the Columbia Journalism School’s Teacher Project, some of the schools who have switched “ have seen marginal increases in standardized test scores.” This is yet another piece of evidence to suggest that the four-day school week provides more adequate academic performance for our ever evolving world. Additionally, another eyewitness testimony by the Superintendent of the Lathrop school district Miami R-1 from Missouri stated “ Our ACT scores are the best they’ve been in 10 years, and our teachers love it.” Once again, the four-day school week has proven its’ ability to conduct education for young adults in an effective manner. This same Superintendent also announced that a community poll conducted approximately half way through the first year showed that 70% of the parents supported the four-day schedule. This poll helps to show that it appears that the majority of the community in small, rural districts such as Miami R-1 or even perhaps Colby where childcare is not an issue would benefit greatly from the four-day school schedule. As one can see, the four-day schedule is widely accepted with a strong base of support from the community if it is in a rural area such as Missouri or

A lot of parents are shaking their heads at the consideration of a four-day school week, and a longer school day. Shorter school weeks or longer school days are reasonable solutions when there is a shortage of funding, or possible budget cuts coming to the school district. This solution has many mixed opinions from parents, teachers and school board members.

Changing a five day week to a five day week to a four day week (For schools)

Financial problems have arose in many schools. Many schools believe that “One day less means one day less of heating the school, fueling buses, feeding students and paying certain staff members” (Anderson). Little things like that can save schools a lot more money. More money means more equipment for learning and new schools objects. “An informational poll on edutopia.com indicates that 67% of over 2700 polled favor this as a solution to school districts financial hardship” (Hadfield). A lot of people want the four day week to be a “thing” so that financial problems can no longer be a problem. Teachers and schools would say “Their budgets has been stretched tighter than a drum and has finally reached a breaking point that cannot be ignored” (Occupy Theory). A sign that teacher and student are getting a bit tired of the stress being put on them because of financial problem. There are more benefits along with the resolution of financial problems and it is academics.

Imagine a school year that gave the students one week off after every quarter and every Friday off. Does this sound exciting and rich with possibilities? Then ask the superintendent of the school district to consider year round school with only four days per week.First, students would not forget what they learned over the long summer. Next, parents would not have to get day care except on Fridays instead of the whole summer. Finally, teachers and students would have better relationships as they spend more time together instead of being rushed. Let’s take a look at some proof.

A low income school in New Haven, Connecticut started the new year telling students they would be attending school until 4:15 P.M. four days a week. New Haven teachers in an unprecedented move allowed their teacher unions to take over the rewriting of their contracts. This provided the teacher with more freedom with curriculum and time management. Although the final outcome was beneficial the origins of the extended day was not welcomed.

Single-track schools, which can make up as much as 87% of year-round schools in areas such as North Carolina, “cost as much or more than traditional school programs” (McMillen 68). The expenses that contribute to this are costs such as the salaries for auxiliary educators to replace those who have chosen to go on break (California Department of Education). While teachers are on break, other educators will most likely be using the classroom, leaving teachers struggling to find ways to store larger educational tools such as posters, student work from previous years, etc. and end up looking to the school to provide storage accommodations. In conjunction with these regular payments, there would also be lengthier maintenance work, which would be very challenging to carry out when there are constantly students in session (California Department of Education). Additional expenses could also include temperature control and food costs, which would be greater due to full year usage. The monetary effects of year round school could also be significant on a moderately broader scale. “In 2000, Texas found the economic costs of starting school in early August totaled US$370 million in lost summer employment, lowered tourism spending, and additional air conditioning costs.” (“Leave Those Kids” 5). Loss of tourism and summer employment

Jeanne Burgin, a 5th grade teacher, said of the 4-day schedule, “Give me this time because I need it. I can use an iPad, but my students use it better than me. I have a family and my own kids. I don’t want to be in here at midnight or weekends learning to use this thing” (“Small, Rural Schools” 3). Teachers appreciate this time off because it gives them a chance to grade student’s papers, catch up on lesson plans, and get more rest before working. Many districts are allotting the Monday off as a day for teacher workshops and meetings, so teachers will miss less class time because they won’t have to leave to go to meetings during the school

Studies show that the amount of discipline referrals issued go down. The Chattooga county school district saw a 73% drop in discipline referrals(Vittana). This is because the students had an extra day off and don’t have to focus for five straight days on school. In addition to being more rested from the extra day off. Students that are more focused and rested learn better. So it increases the value of class time where a 5 day school week by Friday students can be unfocused and not rested. That leads to unhappy students who aren’t learning and probably gonna distract other students to keep them from learning. So

There are approximately 300 children enrolled in California Elementary School under the age of eight. These 300 would have to find some alternative to school on Fridays if the Moniteau County R-1 School District’s schedule changed from a five day week to a four day week. Additionally student involvement and safety would suffer. Changing the Moniteau County R-1 School district’s schedule to a four-day week would be detrimental to students’ safety and involvement in activities.

The idea of having a year round school schedule has been thought about at the state level throughout the country for many years, especially in the past two decades. The driving idea behind the argument is that if year round school is put into place, there would be an increase in academic performance because students will not forget what they learned so easily. This change of schedule will obviously have a lasting effect on society, with child care, vacations, regular living, and social life would have a major change on every family. Other operations would have a dramatic change if summer vacation would be taken away. Federal and state government, churches, businesses, the school’s community, and public

The overall logistics run much smoother in schools that have four day weeks compared to the five day week. “Some districts had experienced a decline in dropout rates, decreased disciplinary referrals, improved attendance, fewer class interruptions, more positive attitudes about school, and better staff development” (Yarbrough and Gilman 81). Another logistical benefit to having four day school week is that students have more time to get involved in extracurricular activities due to more availability

According to a report from the New York City district, a school that received funds for longer days fared better on standardized tests. This school had seven percent more students scoring at or above grade level in reading, when two other schools had increases of five and six percent. In math, three percent of students scored at or above grade level in a school with a longer day, compared with one percent for a low performing school and an average of one percent for other schools (Brett 1). This information is one example of many studies that illustrate that long school days have a great positive impact on school performance. The main school goals are improving students’ knowledge and building different skills that will help them in the future. Therefore, if longer school days support these educational goals, people should be concerned about improving schools by lengthening the day.

“ Approximately 120 districts in 21 states around the country, most of which are small, rural communities in the western states, that have cut Friday (or Monday) from the school schedule.” Both parents and teachers are concerned that as the years go on with this four day schedule the students will begin to drop in their testing and academic performances. “Parents are scrambling to find child care for the extra day, in the Minnesota school district.” Four day school weeks may work for some schools but many should stick with the five days.