Wednesday schedule will align between elementary and middle/high schools
(Spanish) McMinnville School District will move to a late start Wednesday schedule beginning in the fall of 2023.
Starting with the 2023-24 school year, elementary schools will begin at 9 a.m. on Wednesdays and release at 2:30 every day of the week.
Elementary playgrounds will be supervised beginning at 8:30 a.m., and MSD is working with Camp Fire for an option of earlier care if needed. Buses will stay on the same routes and pick up students one hour later than the usual times.
Middle and high schools will stay on their current late start Wednesday schedules.
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Decision-making Process
This decision process was started due to concerns of families with students at both elementary and middle or high school levels. These families requested that the school schedules align.
Elementary families were surveyed on whether they would prefer to stay with the Wednesday early release schedule or align with middle/high schools’ Wednesday late start schedule. (Releasing all levels early was not considered due to the middle and high schools’ robust afterschool schedules of clubs and sports.)
Elementary families were notified of the survey via ParentSquare post with a form to indicate their choice, reminders were included in the Brockett Bulletin, print flyers were sent home in backpack mail, and flyers were available at spring conferences.
Approximately 54 percent of families replied to the survey. The late start preference over the early release was 62 – 38 percent.
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Background
In the fall of 2022, the McMinnville School District implemented Professional Learning Communities (PLCs), a way to move student learning forward more efficiently and effectively by giving staff time to collaborate and coordinate with subject/grade level teams.
Schools implemented new Wednesday schedules after conducting a ThoughtExchange to gather input on potential challenges an adapted schedule would present. Based on that feedback, MSD set an early release schedule for elementary schools and a late start schedule for middle and high schools on Wednesdays.