Missouri Towns Adopt Four Day School Week

Crystal City, a Missippi River Town downriver from St. Louis, has adopted a four day school week. Starting next year students will attend class from Tuesday - Friday and teachers will get one professional development day a month on a Monday. This according to KSDK.com.

Two things drove Crystal City's School Board to approve the change: Money saving in eliminating a day of class, and an increase in professional development for teachers which School Superintendent Steve Barnes told the TV station could provide “better performance and better results in the classroom for our kids.”

So how does this impact students? Crystal City kids start school early as it is, 7:40AM CST. The early start won't change, but instead of students getting out at 2:40PM CST, students will spend an extra forty minutes in class each day, getting out at 3:20PM CST.

Elsberry R-2 School District, on the Mississippi between Hannibal and St. Louis, also adopted a four day school week. The district told KSDK that community support for a four day school week, cost savings, and the ability to recruit and retain educators drove their decision.

I've chronicled the experiments and the studies showing that a four day work week makes workers more productive. While this isn't the same thing at all. If these experiments work. If the four day week doesn't seem to hurt kids' school performance, then consider it another factor that might drive business and commerce to consider the four day work week.

That's a long way off though. It's going to take more than some small school districts to switch to a four day school week. However, if it works for them. Expect larger districts, which never seem to have enough money and good teachers, to experiment with a four day school work. If it happens in L.A., Chicago, and or New York City. That could move the four day work week another inch or two to reality.