A longer day and later start but with Spanish lessons and shorter bus rides

With the addition of a new Spanish language program and a new elementary school opening in 2016, the school district administration is changing up the school day for elementary school students next year, but just by 10 minutes.

For the 2016-2017 school year, all schools will start at 9:15 am, instead of 9:10, and will end at 3:45 pm (except for Wednesdays, when the school day will end at 2:05 pm).

With the addition of a new Spanish-language program to the K-5 curriculum, the district needed to add 10 minutes to the school day to provide additional instruction time.

According to an announcement from the district, Spanish will be taught in a 40-minute lesson, rotating with PE and Music.

The later start time is to accommodate new bus routes with the opening of a fourth elementary school.  The new schedule will allow for the length of current bus rides to be cut in half (on average).

What do you think of the changes? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

Check out announcements from the Mercer Island School District at: www.mercerislandschools.org