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Superintendent Nordy Nelson calls St. James Public School’s four-day school week a “forced experiment” to cut costs on utilities in the coldest months.
Here is how it works in this year’s schedule. Every Monday in January and February is off and every Friday in March is off. That’s 12 straight four-day school weeks. However, five of those 12 weeks are normally scheduled days off because of Teacher and Staff Development days, and Presidents Day. So, in effect, there are just seven days worked out of the schedule, all during the coldest months of the year when utility costs are highest. But that doesn’t mean students are getting less education.
Nelson points out the 2009-10 schedule has the same number of school days and teacher work days as years previous. For the record, there is 170 student days plus 12 in-service days for a total of 182.
An earlier than normal start (August 27th for the High School) plus a shorter spring break make up the seven days taken off from January through March.
“This is one way to address spending, trying to slow it down while not hurting the schedule,” says Nelson.
Of course, there are concerns with a 4-day week, not the least of which is possible daycare issues for working families. Nelson admits families need to adjust their schedules for those months, but overall daycare costs would be the same since the number of school days is the same.
The four-day format was only made possible by the early start which was only made possible by Minnesota’s rule on construction at schools. The rule allows schools to apply to start early if they are doing construction.
St. James Public will likely have a similar schedule next year with ongoing construction at both the High School and at Armstrong. Nelson says if this forced experiment goes well, 4-day weeks may become the norm, though he cautions against instant change.
“We’ll need to run this at least a couple years to see if the District and its families like the system.”
At least one St. James parent, who wished to remain anonymous, was still concerned about daycare and another potential problem:
“The 4-day week means one more night the kids will be out on the town. I mean, they’re not going to stay home.”
•School days at MACCRAY
If St. James does decide to go to a 4-day schedule full-time, they may want to model their schedule after a small, consolidated school in central Minnesota.
The MACCRAY School District in Clara City, MN, (20 miles east of Montevideo) is the only school district in Minnesota that uses four-day weeks for their entire school year. MACCRAY found that the best way to solve a number of problems in their district was to adopt four-day weeks. Here’s how the shortened weeks came together for the 2008-’09 schedule:
• First day of school: Sept. 2nd, last day: June 2nd.
• Only four five-day weeks in the entire school year with most of the days off on Mondays since fewer extra curricular activies happen then.
• School day ran from 8:00 a.m. to 4:04 p.m. This is a 65 minute per day increase.
According to a powerpoint presentation on MACCRAY’s website, www.maccray.k12.mn.us,with the longer days there was actually 48 more scheduled minutes throughout the year than in 2007-’08. There were also fewer teacher absences and fewer student absences compared to the previous year. High school students raved about the four-day week saying the weeks went by fast and longer class periods allowed student work to be completed.
“(MACCRAY showed that) after a three-day weekend, the kids are ready to come back,” says Nelson. “School work is completed better with students using that Monday to get things done.”
Seemingly the only negative comments came from elementary students who said there was not enough recess time and the kids are hungrier during the day.
Otherwise, parents, older students, and teachers at MACCRAY agree there are plenty of benefits to the shift including savings on energy, water, and sewage costs.
Referring again to MACCRAY’s reports, the district saved an estimated $85,683 dollars total from transportation, maintenance, energy, and substitute teacher costs.
If St. James Public Schools see similar savings on a lower scale they too may make four-day weeks permanent.
Superintendent Nordy Nelson calls St. James Public School’s four-day school week a “forced experiment” to cut costs on utilities in the coldest months.
Here is how it works in this year’s schedule. Every Monday in January and February is off and every Friday in March is off. That’s 12 straight four-day school weeks. However, five of those 12 weeks are normally scheduled days off because of Teacher and Staff Development days, and Presidents Day. So, in effect, there are just seven days worked out of the schedule, all during the coldest months of the year when utility costs are highest. But that doesn’t mean students are getting less education.
Nelson points out the 2009-10 schedule has the same number of school days and teacher work days as years previous. For the record, there is 170 student days plus 12 in-service days for a total of 182.
An earlier than normal start (August 27th for the High School) plus a shorter spring break make up the seven days taken off from January through March.
“This is one way to address spending, trying to slow it down while not hurting the schedule,” says Nelson.
Of course, there are concerns with a 4-day week, not the least of which is possible daycare issues for working families. Nelson admits families need to adjust their schedules for those months, but overall daycare costs would be the same since the number of school days is the same.
The four-day format was only made possible by the early start which was only made possible by Minnesota’s rule on construction at schools. The rule allows schools to apply to start early if they are doing construction.
St. James Public will likely have a similar schedule next year with ongoing construction at both the High School and at Armstrong. Nelson says if this forced experiment goes well, 4-day weeks may become the norm, though he cautions against instant change.
“We’ll need to run this at least a couple years to see if the District and its families like the system.”
At least one St. James parent, who wished to remain anonymous, was still concerned about daycare and another potential problem:
“The 4-day week means one more night the kids will be out on the town. I mean, they’re not going to stay home.”
•School days at MACCRAY
If St. James does decide to go to a 4-day schedule full-time, they may want to model their schedule after a small, consolidated school in central Minnesota.
The MACCRAY School District in Clara City, MN, (20 miles east of Montevideo) is the only school district in Minnesota that uses four-day weeks for their entire school year. MACCRAY found that the best way to solve a number of problems in their district was to adopt four-day weeks. Here’s how the shortened weeks came together for the 2008-’09 schedule:
• First day of school: Sept. 2nd, last day: June 2nd.
• Only four five-day weeks in the entire school year with most of the days off on Mondays since fewer extra curricular activies happen then.
• School day ran from 8:00 a.m. to 4:04 p.m. This is a 65 minute per day increase.
According to a powerpoint presentation on MACCRAY’s website, www.maccray.k12.mn.us,with the longer days there was actually 48 more scheduled minutes throughout the year than in 2007-’08. There were also fewer teacher absences and fewer student absences compared to the previous year. High school students raved about the four-day week saying the weeks went by fast and longer class periods allowed student work to be completed.
“(MACCRAY showed that) after a three-day weekend, the kids are ready to come back,” says Nelson. “School work is completed better with students using that Monday to get things done.”
Seemingly the only negative comments came from elementary students who said there was not enough recess time and the kids are hungrier during the day.
Otherwise, parents, older students, and teachers at MACCRAY agree there are plenty of benefits to the shift including savings on energy, water, and sewage costs.
Referring again to MACCRAY’s reports, the district saved an estimated $85,683 dollars total from transportation, maintenance, energy, and substitute teacher costs.
If St. James Public Schools see similar savings on a lower scale they too may make four-day weeks permanent.
