SIDNEY — A local school will transition to a four-day school week starting next school year.
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Under the new schedule, students at Lehman Catholic High School in Sidney will attend classes Tuesday through Friday, with Mondays designated for development outside the classroom.
Principal Brad Zimmerman said the new schedule is designed to help students beyond traditional academics.
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“Opening up this Monday for them provides opportunities for them, for their faith, for their mental health, for many different things,” Zimmerman said. “Like college prep and career prep, job shadowing.”
Curriculum Coordinator Nick Wolters explained that the transition will not reduce classroom time.
“Right now we go to school for 1,105 hours, and so, we’re extending our school day by 30 minutes next year and going to school 14 days less,” Wolters said. “And that’s exactly 1,105 hours. So nothing changed from a time and classroom standpoint.”
School leaders decided on the change after visiting two other Catholic schools to see how a four-day week functions.
Amanda Yant, director of guidance and student services, said the extra day off is intended to improve student grades and well-being.
“I’m excited for the four-day offering, just a day of true rest and the hope would be on a Sunday, that are students would be attending mass or church with their families,” Yant said.
She added that officials hope students will return to campus each Tuesday energized.
Some parents expressed caution regarding the schedule change, specifically concerning transportation and homework.
Zimmerman said the administration worked to address these issues through information sessions.
“We’re definitely ready. We feel like we did our due diligence,” he said. “We talked to all of our parents. We received during the information session, I think we collected 113 questions.”
While Mondays are technically off, the school will offer academic support on campus.
Zimmerman noted that some teachers will host optional tutoring sessions on Mondays.
“We’re inviting teachers who are interested in coming in to tutor,” he said. “We’ll actually pay them a stipend, so it supports them as well, with additional funds.”
In addition to the four-day week, the school will change its internal class structure.
Lehman Catholic will move from a block-based schedule to a period schedule.
This means students will attend the same classes every day from Tuesday through Friday.
The transition to the four-day school week and the period-based schedule will begin at the start of the next school year.
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