Florence Hwang
Regina Leader-Post
A Moose Jaw-area parent and her kids are excited to have more four-day school weeks this fall because it means fewer bus rides throughout the year.
Two of Alana Noble’s three sons — entering Grade 6 and 8, respectively — will be glad to sit in class a bit longer each day since it means less time on the road, she said.
“We’re second on (the bus) in the morning and second off in the evening. That’s what they’re most excited about is not having to ride the bus (on) those Fridays,” said Noble, who is also chair of the Lindale School Community Council (SCC).
Lindale and Caronport Elementary are the latest schools in the Prairie South Division to try a two-year pilot project as part of an alternative school calendar. All rural schools in the division have now made the change while others in Moose Jaw have not.
However, that doesn’t mean every Friday is a day off for rural students. Prairie South is implementing the new schedule for 14 out of 38 total school weeks (about 37 per cent), with the SCCs and the school board determining which Fridays are designated for no classes.
To make up for that time, school days will start roughly 25 minutes earlier.
Some rural schools in Prairie South have used an alternative calendar for many years while others made the switch more recently.
Now, rural schools in the Sun West and Chinook divisions are exploring the option as well.
“Other school divisions have been consulting with us,” noted Ryan Boughen, the director of education at Prairie South.
About a year and a half ago, Lindale parents and administrators discussed the alternative calendar to decide whether it would benefit students. One of the considerations was reducing the number of long bus rides, since many students live in rural areas.
Sun West School Division
Dinsmore Composite is one of six schools from Sun West that will be trying the alternative calendar this fall.
Dinsmore — located about 135 kilometres southwest of Saskatoon — is offering 12 four-day weeks (Fridays off) out of 38.
Trevor Drury, the incoming school principal, is looking forward to the switch as he also thinks the new calendar will help the school division recruit staff.
“Some teachers commute to their job, so this means less driving,” he said.
When Drury visited the school in June, staff members were “excited” about the new calendar, he observed, adding that Dinsmore’s SCC voted 70 per cent in favour of it.
The SCCs for Lindale and Dinsmore are to conduct reviews after two years to decide if they want to continue with the alternative school calendar.
In an emailed response to the Leader-Post, the Ministry of Education said it does not keep an official list or track schools that use the alternative calendar.
