Here is a letter explaining the new Wednesday schedule change.
Greetings Wonderful Madrona Community,
I’m writing to let you know of a very important schedule change that will impact everyone starting the week we return from break.
We will be releasing students from school every Wednesday at 2:35. This is one hour earlier than our normal release time of 3:35. Wednesdays will follow the standard school district schedule for all middle and K-8 schools.
All after school care options that serve middle and K-8 schools will be open at that time, including Garfield Community Center, Miller Community Center, Rotary Boys and Girls Club, Yesler Terrace, Rainier Vista, and CDSA. The PTSA has a small group of parents who will meet in the gym to provide care until 3:35pm for students whose parents aren’t able to work out an alternative plan for that first Wednesday (Feb. 24). They will help to organize the students into groups so they can either do homework or play table games.
On Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, students will continue to be dismissed at 3:35.
We are doing this because we believe in maximizing our time for learning. Our extended day schedule has been very successful, and we’ve seen gains across the board in learning for our students. For four days every week, we’ve offered academic acceleration classes in reading and math as well as many enrichment classes (including karate, Spanish, mural painting, gardening and composting, hip hop dance, double dutch, spoken word, social skills groups, leadership, yoga, fantasy book clubs, journalism, yearbook, architecture, drama, student council, and other engaging activities). The fifth day we used to create collaborative planning and learning time for teachers. In order for this to happen, we had to support an extensive supervision schedule for students. As we’ve evaluated the use of this time, we concluded that we must make this change.
I thank you in advance for your support.
Respectfully,
Kaaren Andrews, Principal
