There have been articles and news stories about an elementary school in Lafayette (Vinton Elementary) that has been operating on a 4 day school week for two academic years. 2026-27 will be the third year. A couple of people have asked me my thoughts about this kind of schedule.
First, this is a pilot program that the state has allowed. In other words, this is an "approved experiment". There are advantages for sure, as well as disadvantages to this schedule. This school is in session from 8 am until 3:45 per day. (an hour longer than most school days). They start in early August and get out in late May. They have traditional vacations, for example spring and fall breaks are a full week; Christmas break is two. Every Friday is a non-student day. On Fridays, staff can have meetings and staff development time. There are enrichment, remediation and child care opportunities on Fridays. Families can also opt to have Fridays (or some Fridays) as "family days" where students stay home and participate in family activities.
The school reports benefits to being on this schedule, including a reduction in discipline/discipline referrals, better staff morale, higher engagement for students and better attendance.
Moving forward, there are many pieces of criteria that a school must meet in order to apply for this waiver (scheduling fewer days than allowed) from the state. The biggest criteria that a school must achieve to qualify is an "A" grade from the state. To get an "A", you must show significant achievement on the state's accountability matrix. This measures academic mastery (proficiency/growth in core academic subjects as determined by standardized testing, including IREAD), high student attendance (94%+ student attendance plus reducing chronic absenteeism which is defined as students missing 10%+ days), career and postsecondary readiness (high schools - graduation rates, SAT scores, dual credit/AP classes, work based learning/workforce credentials) as well as showing excellence in communication and collaboration, work ethic and civic financial and digital literacy. In my research, I am having trouble defining the exact criteria for some of these categories. Suffice it to stay, there are many criteria pieces that must be met to be considered for a 4 day week.
I am open minded when it comes to many facets of scheduling. However, I also have concerns for how this would work here. I will share a couple of my key concerns. One, which is large, is how K-1 students especially would handle having their day extended by one hour. I realize that there are studies and data that can be looked at, but my concern comes from first hand experience. In my years teaching, I know that younger students tend to struggle with attention and tiredness after lunch and recess (generally after 1 pm). It's possible that in time they would adapt, but some may not. I would of course be concerned about getting kids to school or child care on that fifth day. (in the Vinton Elementary example, Fridays) I would also be concerned about one building having this schedule while others in the corporation operate on a traditional 5 day school week. While I can see morale being higher for those on a 4 day week, I would be concerned about the morale for others operating on a traditional 5 day week. What happens if a school earns an A from the state one year and the next year they earn a B? I assume they go back to a traditional schedule.
I applaud the state for allowing this pilot program (experimental schedule) for Vinton Elementary in Lafayette. For most schools, it will be hard to achieve the criteria to qualify for this schedule. From my experience, (at least for elementary students) I feel like those students would benefit from 5 shorter days rather than four long days to get a fifth day "off".