Starting Sept. 18, all PAUSD secondary schools will adopt a new schedule featuring a later start time and 35-minute periods on six designated Mondays in the academic year. Administrators from PAUSD middle and high schools reached this decision to allow for more intra-staff support and collaboration.
Under the new schedule, students will start their first-period class at 10:15 a.m. and end their seventh-period class at 3:50 p.m. The schedule allots an hour before school for staff professional development, followed by a 5-minute brunch and a standard passing period, and removes zero period. Currently, the late-start Mondays are scheduled on Sept. 18, Oct. 16, Nov. 13, Jan. 22, Feb. 26 and April 22.
In response to data suggesting that teacher collaboration and bonding is key to improving student learning experiences, the district prioritized embedding additional time for teachers to discuss and align their curricula. Administrators are hoping to expand staff collaboration beyond intra-department staff meetings held in Professional Learning Communities, so that same-subject teachers can standardize their curricula, according to Principal Wendy Stratton. “Students shouldn’t experience a lottery (based on their teacher),” she said. “But if teachers are siloed, and they don’t sit down (together) very often, then students will have disparate experiences. And that might lead to equity and fairness issues.”
This staff-development time is also meant to encourage more organic, interdisciplinary collaboration between teachers. Instead of having structured, schoolwide activities that occur on standard staff-development days, teachers can meet with each other according to their needs. “I’m hoping to really generate some energy amongst our staff to not only become more aligned and innovative together (within their department), but also have teachers work cross-curricularly more and create a less siloed experience in high school,” Stratton said.
The district has implemented measures to accommodate students’ transportation needs on late-start Mondays. Valley Transportation Authority bus routes have adjusted their stop times to align with the new start times. There will also be rooms open before school for students who are unable to get to school later. After the first trial Monday, on Sept 18., more changes may occur in response to unforeseen issues.
