Parkway School District experimented with its first Late Arrival day on Wednesday, Sep 5.

With Late Arrivals, school begins at 9:35 a.m, and ends at 2:30 p.m.  The main reason this new format was implemented was for teachers to work in Professional Learning Communities. (PLC)

“PLC gives teachers time to discuss students’ needs.  With Late Arrival days, there is an extra hour for the teachers to discuss, which overall increases productivity,” Senior Class Principal Beth Middendorf said.

The Professional Learning Community is a group of educators who are committed to working together to help each student in their academics.  Meetings begin at 7:35 a.m. on Late Arrival Days, and last two hours.  There will be eight during the 2012-13 School year.

“It’s more efficient for the school, sports and coaches because they don’t have to start their activities earlier like they did on Short A-days,” junior Rusty McDonald said.

Late Arrival days allow students extra time to sleep.

“It gives more students time to sleep, and it gives teachers more time to prepare for the day,” Activities Director Susan Dean said.

It is very clear that it’s a bit too early to properly judge Late Arrival Days, and its existence past this year is still being debated.

“The district will most likely reevaluate the reaction at the end of the year, and see how well it worked, then they will decide if they should keep it or not,” Middendorf said.