School continues shortened weeks

Hot Springs County School District No. 1 has decided to continue with the four-and a half-day school week for the 2015-2016 school year.

The intent with the shorter week was to ensure students were getting more time with their teachers as well as opening up Friday afternoons for sports and other activities without a loss of class time, especially on the high school level.

Since the change, the district has been able to schedule professional development for educators on Friday afternoons rather than having to take time away from the classroom, creating more instruction time for students.

The numbers keep getting better, too, when it comes to hours in the classroom.

For the 2013-2014 school year, just three percent of the total learning time for students was lost to absentee teacher/coaches. In 2014-2015, that number dropped to 2.94%

A breakdown of instruction time shows the school district actually has more instruction time in each of the three schools than is required by the state, giving our students more time to learn.

On an elementary level, the state requires 900 hours of instruction time. At Ralph Witters Elementary, our students received 1,080 hours this past year.

Middle school students are required to have 1,050 hours under their belt, however, students at Thermopolis Middle School managed to have 1,129 hours.

The high school cut things a little close this year with the state requiring 1,100 hours and students spending 1,112 hours in the classroom.