Four-Day Instructional Week FAQs

To aid with transportation and other staffing needs, schools are grouped into tiers to stagger start times.

Tier 1: 7:10 am – 2:55 pm
Bridger, Independence Academy, Truman, Van Horn, William Chrisman

Tier 2: 8:05 am – 3:50 pm
Benton, Bingham, Nowlin, Pioneer Ridge, Procter, Randall, Santa Fe Trail

Tier 3: 8:50 am – 4:35 pm
Blackburn, Bryant, Cassell Park, Fairmount, Glendale, Korte, Little Blue, Luff, Mallinson, Mill Creek, Ott, Spring Branch, Sugar Creek, Sycamore, Three Trails, William Southern

Early Education:
Sunshine Center, Truman Early Education: 7 am – 5 pm Monday – Friday
Hanthorn: 8:50 am – 4:35 pm Tuesday – Friday
Hanthorn ECSE (Early Childhood Special Education): AM session 8: 50 – 11:50 / PM session 1:35 – 4:35 Tuesday – Friday

There is a law in the state of Missouri that says public school districts cannot begin the school year any sooner than 14 calendar days prior to Labor Day. We also know that attendance drops off dramatically if the school year extends beyonds Memorial Day, which is why our calendar committee votes to end school in May. In order to both meet these parameters and protect ISD student instruction time, there are some weeks in which students will attend school on Monday as part of a traditional five-day school week. 

Yes, practices and games will continue on Mondays. Transportation to practice will be provided for MSHSAA-sponsored activities.

No. It was important to district leadership that the ISD protect student instruction time. While the number of student attendance days will shift from 170 days to 155 days, the length of the instructional day will increase by 35 minutes. Moving to a four day instructional model does not equal reducing 20% of your student’s instructional time. Professional development days for teachers/staff, which the district already has, have been moved to Mondays as well.

ISD students attend school for more instructional hours than the state requirement of 1,044 hours. While there might be slight fluctuations down to the minutes, the overall instructional time your student will receive is the same.

This depends on each family individually and which childcare services they will use. Some families will see a decrease in the amount they pay for childcare due to the information presented below, as well as taking into consideration that some families may no longer need childcare at the end of the school day, due to the fact that the school day is longer. 

We have also increased our childcare offerings by providing ten hours of care on each of the 30 days in which school is not in session (6:30 am – 6 pm), as well as the addition of full-day care for Pre-K, which was created to accommodate families who need care on Mondays.

Visit the Four-Day Instructional Week Comparison page to see a full breakdown.

AM session: 6:30 AM until school begins
PM session: when school is dismissed until 6 PM

Full-day session: 6:30 am – 6 pm. These services are offered for Pre-K to 8th grade.

There are 30 weekdays on the 23-24 calendar in which school is not in session. These mostly fall on Mondays, except for Tuesday November 7th and Tuesday January 2nd. There is full-day childcare offered on all 30 of these days.

Visit the ISD Childcare: Early Education & Kids’ Safari page to view the schedule.

The chart below specifies buildings that will be open on Mondays, where ISD students can participate in fifth-day offerings. (Students must sign up to participate, and that information will be shared once it is available.) These are also the locations where any child or ISD parent/guardian with the need for a meal may come to get food.

The buildings listed on the left are open combined sites, and the schools and programs listed on the right will feed into those locations on Mondays.

Care is provided for the duration of the enrichment programming. If additional care is needed, then enrollment in enrichment programming can be paired with Kids’ Safari Childcare to provide a full day of care (see ISD Childcare: Early Education & Kids’ Safari for pricing).

Enrichment programming is free to ISD students.

In most cases, transportation is not provided for enrichment programming. See the Fifth-Day Opportunities page for an overview of enrichment types and whether or not transportation is provided.

Free enrichment programming is available for all K-12 students. Specific information about academic and extracurricular options will be shared by buildings closer to the start of the 2023-2024 school year.

See an overview of offerings under the Enrichment Programming section on the Fifth-Day Opportunities page.

The Pre-K program will follow the four-day school week schedule, Tuesday – Friday. The hours of the program will align with the bell schedule of the school in which your child attends. The cost is $80/week. Qualifying families might be eligible for financial assistance. There is also Kids’ Safari Before and After School care for Pre-K at select sites.

Pre-K Kid’s Safari Full-Day care is also offered on non-school days at Hanthorn. See the ISD Childcare: Early Education & Kids’ Safari page for the full schedule and rates.

No; for most classified employees (non-teachers), the number of hours will remain the same. Instead of working five days, an employee will work four longer days. Some departments will remain on a five-day week. The ISD has made adjustments to salary schedules in all other employee groups to ensure that no one loses any pay.