FAQs

We’re eager to help you find the answers to questions regarding the Four-Day Instructional week.

If you can’t find what you’re looking for on this page or other Four-Day informational pages, contact us at fourdayinfo@isdschools.org.

Visit our Four-Day Instructional Week information center for more resources.

View a PDF version of the information on this page.

Hours

Visit the Calendars page to see each building’s start and end times and the full student academic calendar.

What are the start and end times of the school day?

To aid with transportation and other staffing needs, schools are grouped into tiers to stagger start times.

Tier 1: 7:10 am – 2:55 pm
Bridger, Independence Academy, Truman, Van Horn, William Chrisman

Tier 2: 8:05 am – 3:50 pm
Benton, Bingham, Nowlin, Pioneer Ridge, Procter, Randall, Santa Fe Trail

Tier 3: 8:50 am – 4:35 pm
Blackburn, Bryant, Cassell Park, Fairmount, Glendale, Korte, Little Blue, Luff, Mallinson, Mill Creek, Ott, Spring Branch, Sugar Creek, Sycamore, Three Trails, William Southern

Early Education:
Sunshine Center, Truman Early Education: 7 am – 5 pm Monday – Friday
Hanthorn: 8:50 am – 4:35 pm Tuesday – Friday
Hanthorn ECSE (Early Childhood Special Education): AM session 8: 50 – 11:50 / PM session 1:35 – 4:35 Tuesday – Friday

Why did the ISD choose Mondays as the day off?

Most national holidays fall on Mondays, so we have always had a handful of Mondays scheduled off anyway during the school year. We have also moved our Teacher/Staff Professional Development Days (PD days) to Mondays. Mondays off is the best option to accommodate families and allow more consistency in the calendar, plus it enables the ISD to stay within the parameters of the state-mandated school year start date and a school year end date prior to Memorial Day.

Why are there still some weeks when school is in session on Mondays?

There is a law in the state of Missouri that says public school districts cannot begin the school year any sooner than 14 calendar days prior to Labor Day. We also know that attendance drops off dramatically if the school year extends beyonds Memorial Day, which is why our calendar committee votes to end school in May. In order to both meet these parameters and protect ISD student instruction time, there are some weeks in which students will attend school on Monday as part of a traditional five-day school week.

Will practices and games continue on Mondays?

Instruction

Is my student receiving less education?

Is my student receiving less education?

No. It was important to district leadership that the ISD protect student instruction time. While the number of student attendance days will shift from 170 days to 155 days, the length of the instructional day will increase by 35 minutes. Moving to a four day instructional model does not equal reducing 20% of your student’s instructional time. Professional development days for teachers/staff, which the district already has, have been moved to Mondays as well.

ISD students attend school for more instructional hours than the state requirement of 1,044 hours. While there might be slight fluctuations down to the minutes, the overall instructional time your student will receive is the same.

Childcare

View the Childcare webpage for more information and to register for ISD childcare, Kids’ Safari.

Did the cost of childcare go up?

This depends on each family individually and which childcare services they will use. Some families will see a decrease in the amount they pay for childcare due to the information presented below, as well as taking into consideration that some families may no longer need childcare at the end of the school day, due to the fact that the school day is longer.

We have also increased our childcare offerings by providing ten hours of care on each of the 30 days in which school is not in session (6:30 am – 6 pm), as well as the addition of full-day care for Pre-K, which was created to accommodate families who need care on Mondays.

Visit the Four-Day Instructional Week Comparison page to see a full breakdown.

What are the hours for Kids’ Safari Before and After school care?

What are the hours for Kids’ Safari Full-Day Sessions?

Full-day session: 6:30 am – 6 pm. These services are offered for Pre-K to 8th grade.

There are 30 weekdays on the 23-24 calendar in which school is not in session. These mostly fall on Mondays, except for Tuesday November 7th and Tuesday January 2nd. There is full-day childcare offered on all 30 of these days.

Visit the ISD Childcare: Early Education & Kids’ Safari page to view the schedule.

Enrichment

In addition to our childcare offerings as explained above, the ISD is also offering free enrichment programming on the 18 days listed as “Enrichment” in the schedule on the Fifth-Day Opportunities page. These programs are available to students grades K-12 and include both academic and extracurricular activities.

See the Fifth-Day Opportunities page for an overview of offerings.

Signup for these programs are handled at your student’s school.

Where are these services offered?

The chart below specifies buildings that will be open on Mondays, where ISD students can participate in fifth-day offerings. (Students must sign up to participate, and that information will be shared once it is available.) These are also the locations where any child or ISD parent/guardian with the need for a meal may come to get food.

The buildings listed on the left are open combined sites, and the schools and programs listed on the right will feed into those locations on Mondays.

Open School (Combined Site)	Schools Attending Combined Site
Hanthorn	Pre-K (Ages 3-5) Kids’ Safari Only
Little Blue	Blackburn, Randall, Spring Branch, IA Elementary, Elementary Special Education Program: LS, CBSS, FS
Mallinson	Benton, Bryant, Mill Creek, Ott, Sugar Creek
Cassell Park	Fairmount, Korte, Procter, Three Trails
Sycamore	Glendale, Luff, Santa Fe, William Southern
Bingham	Bridger, Nowlin, Pioneer Ridge, IA Middle School, Middle School Special Education Programs: LS, CBSS, FS
William Chrisman	Truman, Van Horn, IA High School

What if my student needs additional care before or after the enrichment programming?

How much will enrichment cost?

Is there transportation to and from enrichments?

What enrichment programming is available per grade level?

Early Education

My child is Birth – age 2. What are my childcare options?
My child is in Pre-K (ages 3-5). What are my childcare options?

My child is Birth – age 2. What are my childcare options?

The move to a four-day instructional week does not impact those from birth – age 2 in our Early Education program. The hours of care for those ages will remain Monday – Friday, 7 AM to 5 PM. The cost is $210/week. Qualifying families might be eligible for financial assistance.

Click here to begin the online registration process for the Early Education program then call ISD Early Education at 816-521-5314 to set up a screening appointment to complete the process.

Visit the Early Education webpage for more information.

My child is in Pre-K (ages 3-5). What are my childcare options?

The Pre-K program will follow the four-day school week schedule, Tuesday – Friday. The hours of the program will align with the bell schedule of the school in which your child attends. The cost is $80/week. Qualifying families might be eligible for financial assistance. There is also Kids’ Safari Before and After School care for Pre-K at select sites.

Pre-K Kid’s Safari Full-Day care is also offered on non-school days at Hanthorn. See the ISD Childcare: Early Education & Kids’ Safari page for the full schedule and rates.

Meals

Will meals be provided on the Mondays that we don’t have school?

Will meals be provided on the Mondays that we don’t have school?

Meals will be provided at the following locations when school is not in session:

Bingham
Cassell Park
Hanthorn
Little Blue
Mallinson
Sycamore Hills
William Chrisman

Breakfast at each location will be served 8 – 9:15 AM. Lunch will be served 10:20 AM – 12:40 PM.

We will serve free meals to any child or ISD parent/guardian who arrives at these sites with the need for a meal. These meals will be served as a grab-and-go format. The serving times will match the meal service of the buildings on Tuesday – Friday, and that information will come from the buildings closer to the start of the school year in August.

Will employees lose pay?

Do teachers have to work on Mondays?

During most months, teachers are contracted for one Monday for purposes of professional development or teacher work time.

Additionally, every teacher is assigned to work one Monday per school year, thus creating a rotating schedule which will ensure our Monday activities for students are staffed. Teachers were surveyed for their assigned work day preference and assignments will be sent out at the beginning of the year.

Teachers may choose to work additional Mondays, which gives them an opportunity to earn additional pay if they wish.