(May 9, 2023) - As a result of a survey earlier this year, Republic School District will add 10 minutes to the end of each school day for the 2023-2024 school year. This change allows for more calendar flexibility.
As you may remember, staff, students and families were asked to complete a Calendar and Construction Survey in January. The results were communicated in a Tiger Talk e-newsletter on January 24. Of those who participated, 80.5% were in favor of extending the school day. Of those, 56.4% said they’d prefer two full weeks off for Winter Break, instead of a full week off for Thanksgiving.
The Board of Education has approved this change. Based on the results from the survey along with recommendations from the TASK Committee – which is an internal committee made up of district employees – 10 minutes will be added to the end of each school day starting in August of 2023, allowing for a four-day Fall Break in October and a 10-day Winter Break in December. The district will still have a three-day Thanksgiving Break. The revised 2023-2024 calendar can be viewed here.
As all buildings extend their school day by 10 minutes, Sweeny Elementary and Lyon Elementary will also experience additional adjustments. In a partnership between the district and the City of Republic, a new queuing road (shown in the image below) for the car line is expected to be completed by the first day of school in August, which is intended as a long-term solution to alleviate traffic congestion near Main Street and Highway 174. Starting in August, Sweeny and Lyon will dismiss at the same time as the other elementary schools. More details about the queuing road will be available later this summer.
The new dismissal times for all Republic School District buildings for the 2023-2024 school year are below:
- Republic High School: 2:40 p.m. (1:40 p.m. for Friday Early Release)
- Republic Middle School: 2:50 p.m. (1:50 p.m. for Friday Early Release)
- Elementary buildings – Lyon, Sweeny, McCulloch, Schofield, Price, Early Childhood Center: 3:40 p.m. (2:40 p.m. for Friday Early Release)
Reminder: This change will take effect for the 2023-2024 school year. Dismissal times for the rest of the 2022-2023 school year will remain the same.