pic

Andrew Parents and Families,

Our administration and teachers have recently been exploring ways that we can continue to improve our students' overall experience in our school. One area we have been investigating is how we can improve our school calendar to maximize our time with students. One option we are considering is extending the length of our school day to include fifteen minutes of additional instructional time each day by moving up our current school start day from 8:00 am to 7:45 am. Our dismissal time would not change. Adding fifteen minutes of time per day would allow us to reduce our number of student school days by up to four days.

Starting our instructional day earlier offers several benefits, including:

  • Allows us to continue ending our students’ school year prior to Memorial Day

  • Maximizes the time we have with students by utilizing it as more instructional time

  • Allows us to fit consistent core literacy and math classes in the morning for all grades

  • Eliminates the current time constraints middle & high school students face when the bus drops them off each morning with little time before classes begin

Our Andrew staff has had several meaningful discussions about starting our students' school day earlier. Additional pros and cons we have considered are listed in the table below.

Pros

Cons

  • Greater potential for a few more three-day weekends throughout the year

  • A three-day weekend can allow students and staff a day to schedule appointments so they are not missing school

  • Earlier drop-off time is available for parents who travel out of town for their employment

  • Longer school day

  • Possible student fatigue

  • Earlier bus pickup times

  • Calendar may differ from Maquoketa or Bellevue

  • Less light earlier in the morning at certain times during the year

To submit your feedback and/or questions about our proposed school start time click this link to access a 2-5 minute survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WHF2WKZ