Early Release or Late Start Days
If schools use other time options (e.g., early-release days or late starts), they must be aware of practical considerations such as transportation, child care, student activities, negotiated agreements, and state mandates. It is also important to be sensitive to public perception about restructured professional time and to demonstrate and communicate its instructional impact.
At Sarah Cobb Elementary School in Americus, Georgia, students are released one day a week at 1:30 p.m. instead of the regular 3:30 p.m. dismissal time. The school had exceeded the minimum number of instructional minutes required by the state, and it was not necessary to add minutes to the other four school days.
All schools in the Snoqualmie School District have early release days on Fridays. Most of the schools exceeded the minimum number of instructional hours required by the State of Washington. The one school that didn’t exceed the minimum instructional hours extended their day by 6 minutes on the non-release days to make up the missing time. Frequent release days in Washington Schools are increasingly becoming more popular among districts looking for ways to enhance professional development and professional learning time for staff.
Classes begin 30 minutes late on Wednesdays at Holtville High School in Holtville, California. But, on Wednesdays, teachers arrive 30 minutes earlier than on the other four days. This gives teachers one hour for collaborative planning in their study groups.
In Boyle County schools in Kentucky, students are dismissed two hours early every Wednesday in September, October, March, and April. For November, December, January, February, and May, each school submits a plan to the district office showing how it will enable teachers to continue their study groups.
The Jackson Elementary School faculty in Greeley, Colorado, redesigned the modified day that had been in place before initiating Whole Faculty Study Groups. Monday was the modified day and was formed by having the school day start five minutes early and end five minutes later on Tuesday through Friday, making the student's day 8:40 a.m. to 3:25 p.m. four days a week. On Monday, students leave at 1:45 p.m. and teachers leave at 4:25 p.m.
The following video clip communicates how Holt High School in Holt, Michigan, changed their schedule to allow teachers to engage in weekly professional development and teaming activities. [ 819k QuickTime slide show ] Excerpted from the videotape Collaborations in Education: Creating a Professional Development School (North Central Regional Educational Laboratory, 1993).