School Schedules

Start times. Snow days. Year-round schooling. Block scheduling. Four-day weeks. Get research and insights into school calendars

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School & District Management Madison District Considers Later School Start Times for Middle School Students
Most middle school students in Madison, Wisc., start class around 7:30 a.m., and the school board is studying a proposal to begin the day later in the hopes of improving learning and health.
Marva Hinton, June 17, 2016
3 min read
School & District Management Opinion Time and Schedules: Ally or Constraint?
Our value about the use of time, expecting almost all of it as scheduled as teaching time, runs counter to the current need to change the way teaching and learning take place.
Jill Berkowicz & Ann Myers, May 5, 2016
4 min read
School & District Management New Jersey Solicits Community Input on Later Middle, High School Start Times
State education officials are responding to a state law passed last year requiring them to solicit feedback from the community on the impact of implementing later school start times for middle and high school students.
Marva Hinton, May 4, 2016
1 min read
School & District Management Are Schools Shortchanging Students on Time for Physical Education?
A new report that examines the status of physical education in the United States finds that only a handful of states mandate the amount of time schools must spend on physical education.
Marva Hinton, April 22, 2016
2 min read
School & District Management Should All Math Classes Be Morning Classes?
A study involving 1.8 million 6th through 11th graders in the Los Angeles Unified School District found distinct advantages for students who took math classes early in the day compared to those who took math courses late in the day.
Marva Hinton, April 20, 2016
2 min read
School & District Management Does More Time on the Playground Equal Success in the Classroom?
Some schools in Texas are taking part in a research project on the effects of giving elementary students four 15-minute recess periods per day.
Marva Hinton, March 31, 2016
3 min read
School & District Management Colorado High School Offers Night Classes to Help At-Risk Students Graduate
A high school in Colorado with a 60 percent graduation rate has started offering night classes to help students who have trouble attending class during traditional school hours graduate.
Marva Hinton, March 11, 2016
2 min read
School & District Management Why Schools Should Make Sleep a Priority
A leading sleep expert is calling on schools to do more to make sure start times are aligned with teenagers' body clocks.
Marva Hinton, March 8, 2016
5 min read
School & District Management Seattle School District Grapples With Plans for Major Schedule Change
School districts face many challenges when it comes to implementing later start times in order to comply with American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations.
Marva Hinton, February 26, 2016
2 min read
Professional Development Four-Day Weeks for Teachers, Anyone?
An extended-day public school in Queens, N.Y., is experimenting with a four-day week this year—but only for teachers.
Anthony Rebora, February 25, 2016
2 min read
Student Achievement Texas School District Plans Four-Day Week Option to Help Struggling Students
A small, rural school district in West Texas has adopted a four-day school week option for next year in the hopes that struggling students will attend on the optional fifth day for tutoring.
Marva Hinton, February 18, 2016
2 min read
School & District Management This Florida Mom Wants Legislators to Pass a Law Mandating School Recess
A group of self-described 'recess moms' is behind a bill that would mandate that students in Florida elementary schools have 20 minutes of unstructured play time each school day.
Marva Hinton, February 4, 2016
4 min read
Students arrive at The School of Creative Studies, a magnet school for grades 6-12 in Durham, N.C., last week. Next year, most of Durham’s high school students will start around 9 a.m., allowing them to get more sleep.
Students arrive at The School of Creative Studies, a magnet school for grades 6-12 in Durham, N.C., last week. Next year, most of Durham’s high school students will start around 9 a.m., allowing them to get more sleep.
Justin Cook for Education Week
School & District Management Teens Need More Sleep, But Districts Struggle to Shift Start Times
Transportation costs and family schedules are among the factors that make changing school start times tough for educators.
Evie Blad, September 22, 2015
6 min read
School & District Management Opinion Wake Up, Sleepyheads: Should We Change School Start Times?
Here's the truth: "Schools"--and the people who work in them--have always understood that they only have so much time with students and only some of that time is prime learning time. Start and end times are part of a massively complex system of overlapping needs and goals, not contained in a single district.
Nancy Flanagan, September 13, 2015
3 min read