The Balanced School Day Our Lady of the Assumption School Looking Ahead to Student Success Student Learning

The Balanced School Day is an organizational change (within the structure of the school day.)

It reorganizes instructional time into 3 larger, uninterrupted blocks of time.

It also reorganizes recreational and lunch time into two larger blocks, instead of 3 blocks (two short and one long)

What are the benefits? Research indicates the following: -Increased on-task learning time for students - Fewer transitions during the day

-Improved nutrition for students -No teaching minutes used for ‘snack time’

Additional options for extracurricular activities (two 18 min. blocks of time)

-Decreased discipline problems on the yard (no 40 minute time block outside)

The times for Kindergarten and Early Learning Program students will not change. Teachers have the flexibility within their own classrooms to set up their subject time blocks according to the developmental level of their students.

How Much Instructional Time Does the Balanced School Day Gain? A conservative estimate is 10 minutes per day (dressing, undressing, eating snack during instructional time) This results in a minimum of 30 hours, or over 5 days, over the school year!

“Schools should make every effort to convey the message that class time is sacred time and should be interrupted for important events only. “ Marzanno, 2003

Rationale Intent Improve the learning environment in our school Balance instruction/activity/nutrition for students Improving literacy skills will improve student success at every level in every discipline

Balanced School Day Both the Balanced Day and the traditional day include 335 minutes of instructional time; however in our current traditional day, instructional time is lost during the three transition times. By reducing the transition to two the Balanced Day increases student’s learning time. Our staff also reaps the benefits by having larger instructional time blocks and less supervision demands.

Research suggests that a Balanced Day schedule results in an increase in student concentration levels and academic performance, while reporting a decrease in discipline issues. A Balanced Day helps children maintain in-class focus following their nutrition and recess breaks. Two longer nutrition breaks allow for a more balanced distribution of food and two equal activity times promote daily physical activity.

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