School hours for the 2015-16 school year are:
SECONDARY SCHOOLS
Hamilton High School: 7:55 a.m. to 2:55 p.m.
Hamilton Freshman School: 7:40 a.m. to 2:40 p.m.
Garfield and Wilson Middle Schools: 8:20 a.m. to 3:20 p.m.
ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
Crawford Woods and Highland: 8:45 a.m. to 3:20 p.m.
Brookwood and Fairwood: 9 a.m. to 3:35 p.m.
Linden and Ridgeway: 9:15 a.m. to 3:50 p.m.
Bridgeport and Riverview: 9:30 a.m. to 4:05 p.m.
The Hamilton City School District is changing its school day start and dismissal times in an effort to address issues related to early release days, busing and academic performance in high school students.
“I am very excited in working to see if this is possible,” said Keith Millard, assistant superintendent of instruction for Hamilton schools. “The time change, while certainly an adjustment, we believe that the long term will help to better serve the schools.”
More professional development time for teachers and staff will come as a result of the elimination of early release days. This is something Millard said he believes will greatly benefit staff members and, consequently, students.
Jeff Miller, Hamilton Freshman School Principal, said designated daily planning time will open up a great opportunity for the school to utilize time on a daily basis for collaboration and focus on school improvements.
“There will be more time built in on a daily basis for planning and professional development that was previously not planned for,” Millard said. “Early release was no longer justified.”
The 2015-2016 school year will also see 20 additional minutes per day of instructional time for each of the four elementary schools in the district without affecting time allotted for recess and other activities.
“In putting together the schedule for the district, great care was put into having as minimal of an effect on after-school programs as possible,” Millard said.
Involved in the decision to alter school start and release times were a variety of stakeholders, parent perspectives, as well as valued teacher and administrator input.
These new “staggered start times” reduce the amount of time students will spend on the bus per day on their way to and from school, according to Millard.
The district is currently running double buses to provide transportation to elementary schools. With the changes to next year’s schedule, the district will run on single busing.
Each elementary school’s times were determined based on busing. The strategic decision making was based on the geographic location of each school and moving bus routes from one route to the next with no additional transportation costs.
For parents concerned with drop-offs and pick-ups, Millard believes there is still plenty of time before the next school year starts for families to address these conflicts.
Millard also believes there is no need for concern over time for homework and student workloads.
“While we understand this is an adjustment, over time the schedule will work itself out, and there will be minimal impact on after-school planning,” Millard said.
Students will also be adjusting to later start times, hopefully yielding better results in the classroom.
“Developmentally, teenagers require a great deal of sleep, and pushing the day back will help with that,” Miller said. “Our students are so busy these days in their evenings. Starting later in the day is very beneficial.”
According to the Sleep Foundation, teens need about eight to 10 hours of sleep every night for best mental functioning, citing a study that found that only 15 percent of teens reported sleeping eight-and-a-half hours on school nights.
The Sleep Foundation adds that not sleeping long enough can “limit the ability to learn, listen, concentrate and solve problems” and can “lead to aggressive or inappropriate behavior.”
Hamilton High School Principal John Wilhem is optimistic these changes, especially the 40 minutes every day dedicated to teachers working on individual goals or work and collaborating within departments or among teachers who teach the same subjects, will improve instruction for students.
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