The Swan Valley Elementary School Board voted unanimously to switch to a four-day school week on April 9.
A survey sent out to parents and community members before the vote showed strong support for the switch. Principal Angie Mock said the four-day school week seems to be the better model for Class C schools and it puts Swan Valley School in alignment with both the high school and elementary school in Seeley Lake where students in both districts share extracurricular activities. Swan Valley’s graduates also attend Seeley-Swan High School.
The Seeley Lake Elementary School Board voted to switch to a four-day school week earlier this month.
Mock said from her perspective the number one reason the switch was so supported was that the schedule gave families more time. Fridays off can now be used for appointments or longer weekends, resulting in lower student and staff absences and increased motivation in students and morale in staff. Mock said this could result in some savings for the district from substitute teacher wages.
Two big concerns that stand out when schools make the switch to a four-day school week tend to be nutrition and childcare. Nutrition is a moot point for Swan Valley School, since the school doesn’t have a cafeteria to offer meals to begin with.
“We cannot be held responsible for making sure child care is provided,” Mock said. “However, keeping that in mind and having that be a sensitivity, that’s why those Fridays will be utilized doing some of the same activities through the 21st Century grant to help offset some of that downtime for (students) if they so choose.”
The 21st Century grant provides funding for a broader range of educational opportunities in STEAM topics, which include science, technology, engineering, art and math. Currently, the idea is for STEAM learning to be offered on Fridays and the school is not planning on using this day for interventions, or time allocated for extra support for students that may need it. Interventions will continue to be offered during regular school hours.
The new calendar is still being developed but Mock said longer days provide more fluidity in the schedule, providing opportunities to dig deeper in certain topics or promote collaboration between different ages at the school. When Monday holidays roll around, the school will likely switch to a Tuesday through Friday schedule.
School Board Chair Kitty Logan said she didn’t think she’d ever be for a four-day school week when she was a superintendent and principal in Drummond. She thought it would be a detriment to younger students, but after researching and learning that more time in the school days allowed for more time for instruction — like having reading in both the morning and afternoon, for example — she said she had to rethink.
“And I’m glad I did,” Logan said.
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