TOWNSEND — The Townsend School District is considering changes in its school schedule, from a four-day week, to block scheduling, and they are asking the community for feedback.
The Townsend School District is currently looking at new ways to deliver education.
Townsend Superintendent, Susie Hedalen, says that they're in the strategic planning phase.
That includes the possibility of new schedules and different learning models the goal is to ultimately help the district best educate and prepare students for their future and the district recognizes that means finding innovative ways to accomplish those goals.
Aside from four-day weeks, the stakeholders are also examining the possibility of blended learning a hybrid of online and in-person instruction and tailoring the different models to different grades. There is a lot to consider.
"I think the scheduling model of a four-day week would be something that would be hard to separate out. And if we decided to go in that direction, I assume it would be a k-12 decision, but that would be up to the school board at the end of the day. The online blended learning model would definitely be something that would be suited more for the older students that are more independent on their computers," said Hedalen.
School leaders know this is a big decision that extends beyond just students, staff, and administration. That's why they've involved the community in the discussion.
"Last night we had 64 representatives from the community that included staff, parents and stakeholders present to have the discussion. And we plan to launch a survey here shortly in the next few days so that we can get even more response and participation from public," said Hedalen.
To increase participation, they have a community survey and planned additional meetings.
"We want to get more information from parents and community members through a survey before we move forward. And so that s a big next step. And we re hoping that we will have more information and be able to have another community meeting before the next board meeting," said Hedalen.
The next board meeting is scheduled for April 11th.
