The state of Indiana requires a certain amount of time to be spent on professional development, or "kid free learning time". However, the state has also mandated that school districts are no longer allowed to have half days. In order to build this time into the calendar without taking away from the require number of minutes for instructional time, Merrillville elementary schools are releasing students an hour early every Thursday for the remainder of the year.
What this means for the students is:
1) one less hour of school
2) one more hour of fun
What this means for an ESL student is:
1) one less hour of school
2) one more hour of fun
3) possibly one less ESL session a week
This last factor, leaves students missing out on help that they need. For instance, 2nd grade does not come to ESL on Thursdays. Now this may not seem like a huge deal except for the fact that next year they begin taking the ISTEP test and those scores have a profound impact on the school as a whole. Also, students that come during recess because of slacking grade performance miss their allotted time because of the exclusion of morning recess.
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