When the school bell rings in Independence, Missouri, this year, 14,000 students are trying something new: a four-day week, with Mondays off. And they're not alone. As kids head back to school this year, a growing number will be returning to a four-day school week. in recent years
Dale Herl, superintendent of the Independence School District, and his staff have spent months planning for this year's significant calendar change. His district is the largest in the state to move to a four-day schedule. To comply with state requirements for instructional time, which determines how school calendars are structured, the district will add 35 extra minutes onto each day.
Schools in other parts of the country have noticed similar patterns. In Chico, Texas, where the public school district also announced a shift to four-day academic schedules this year, officials said positions that used to receive five applications were suddenly receiving more than 20, Aaron Pallas, a professor at Columbia University's Teachers College, is watching the trend as more schools make the shift.
"I think this really needs to lead to a bigger discussion nationwide about, you know, what we are going to do to support the teaching profession," he said.