The new interim superintendent for the Dolores Re-4A school district, Reece Blincoe, is excited about the shorter school weeks that will comprise the 2021-22 school year.
The new schedule will give students who fell behind during the pandemic a chance to catch up on Fridays, he said. It also will provide students the opportunity to participate in less traditional, yet engaging enrichment days if they choose.
School days will run longer. Class at Dolores Elementary School will begin at 8 a.m. and dismiss at 3:40 p.m., and Dolores Secondary School days will run from 7:45 a.m. to 3:50 p.m.
As the leading state in school districts with four-day weeks, Colorado has 114, or 64%, of its 178 districts, implementing the model in the 2021-11 academic year, according to the Colorado Department of Education.
The Dolores School District Board of Education approved the switch in February, before Blincoe was superintendent.
“We hit the ground running on planning that,” he said.
The first optional Friday is slated for Sep.10, he said.
Dolores follows in the footsteps of the Mancos School District, who shortened their school weeks in 2017.
“I like it, because I am that kind of person that says ‘How can we think out of the box, how can we do something different?’” said Blincoe.
As the school year unravels, teachers will meet with principals to discuss which students may benefit from one-on-one, or small group, tutorial-style learning on Fridays, he said.
Optional Friday enrichment activities will blend environmental experiences with hands-on learning. Potential ventures include school-to-farm immersions and lessons in agriculture, water quality and forests, he said.
“They'll help students possibly see where they may want to go and be occupied in the future,” he said.
These field trip experiences may also lighten the load of parents who aren’t able to provide child care on Fridays.
“Kids can stay home, or their parents can say ‘Hey, I want you to go on this road trip,’” he said. “We're still working on this. The only piece that may not be optional is going to be the remediation.”
Remediation won’t be all day, though, he said.
“We want it to be a ‘Come, let's do a little bit of work, and then let's go join everybody,” he said. “We want to make it fun for everybody.”
Staff will receive stipends if they decide to work Fridays.Teachers will be able to choose which Fridays they want to work, Blincoe said.
Friday activities will be funded by the school’s Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief II grant, he said.
The money comes as part of the Education Stabilization fund facilitated by Congress.
The ESSER II fund provided the district with $262,101 in funds, according to the Colorado Department of Education. Montezuma-Cortez Re-1 received $4,338,830, and Mancos Re-6 was granted $399,312.
The district has created the role of Friday coordinator to plan for the optional schooldays.
“I like trying new things and just seeing it, we'll learn a lot,” Blincoe said. “It's not all going to be flowers and sunshine. We're going to stub our toe some, but that's just part of the process.”
