Last fall, the school board approved the addition of early release days to the District One schedule. The goal of these early release days was to provide more planning time for teachers within their respective departments.

Now, one year after their implementation, teachers, students and administrators all agree that they have been a success.

Math teacher Carrie Forrest especially appreciates that teachers now have built-in collaborative planning hours. Instead of having to coordinate an after-school meeting, the early release days are a guaranteed time to gather and organize lessons as a department.

“It’s a nice time for the faculty to get together that’s not outside of our contracted time, so it makes a big difference when you’re able to sit and work together,” Forrest said. “Instead of adding to our load, it lessens our load, which makes a big difference.”

Principal Andrew McMillan also believes that giving teachers extra planning time has proved to be very beneficial.

“I think (the early release days) have been successful so far,” McMillan said. “The time is very intentional and purposeful for our faculty and staff.” 

As for the students, the early release days are an opportunity to get out of school and have a slightly longer weekend.

“It’s a useful time to get half a day back for the weekend,” said senior Odalis Chavez. “I enjoy having the early release days because I get to go home and enjoy my life.”

However, it isn’t just fun and games. Students can also use the extra time to get caught up on schoolwork.

“From a student’s standpoint, I’m able to go home and work on some things I’ve been needing to catch up on or even get ahead for the weeks to come,” said senior Abby Gossett.

Since the early release days have proved to be successful, everyone is hopeful that they will continue to be implemented.

“We are scheduled to continue these days in the 2023-2024 school year,” McMillan said. “I would like to see more added, possibly once a month, or once a week.”

Because the “trial period” of early release days is now over, Forrest hopes that the district will continue to adjust and mold these days into a time that will help teachers for years to come.

“Now that we’ve had some experience with what they can look like, I think that they really can be a benefit to faculty as we go forward,” Forrest said.

From a student perspective, continuing the early release days will help break the monotony of the spring semester.

“I feel like especially during the third and fourth nine week stretches where we don’t have a lot of days off, a few half days here and there will help students regroup to do their best in school,” Gossett said.

The extra two weeks in the second semester can feel very long, and if nothing else, the early release days are a fun change in the schedule for students to enjoy.

“It’s a long spring semester, longer than the fall, and these half days make me look forward to the week,” Chavez said.