LSC: Scores up, thumbs up, year one of Vinton Elementary’s 4-day week

Plus, a school district updates its RIF policy, just in case, as it sorts through cuts, mandates at the end of this Indiana General Assembly session.

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LSC: THUMBS UP, YEAR ONE OF VINTON ELEMENTARY’S 4-DAY WEEK

One year into a three-year pilot for a four-day school week at Lafayette’s Vinton Elementary – the first school in Indiana to try it – the principal told LSC school board members Monday that student test scores were up in the past year and, despite adjustments from a traditional five-day schedule, just 5% of the families said they wouldn’t stick around for the second year.

Cindy Preston, Vinton Elementary principal, told school board members that students were the quickest to adapt to the longer days, but shorter weeks, at the start of the school year. She said teachers had a rougher time early in the year, particularly because the schedule was accompanied by new reading curriculum across the district and new math assessments.

(Photo: Dave Bangert)

“Basically, teachers were exhausted, and it was a lot of change at one time,” Preston said. “But by about fall break, everybody hit their stride and it’s been great. … As other districts around the state have reached out to me and asked, What’s your advice? What do you think? I say, change one thing at a time.”

The LSC school board voted in April 2024 to move Vinton Elementary to a four-day week, after the State Board of Education granted the district a three-year waiver for the pilot project. At the time, based on results from four-day schedules gaining traction in Missouri, Utah and a handful of other states, LSC officials said they believed the concept could be a recruiting and retention feature for teachers and staff and would build on the district’s goal of bringing more school choice options to LSC.

Vinton has spent the 2024-25 school year in class from 8 a.m.-3:45 p.m. That compares to 8:30 a.m.-3:25 p.m. at the other seven K-4 buildings under LSC’s schedule revised for this school year. Vinton’s instruction time is counted in minutes to meet state requirements that have other schools in class 180 days. The four-day week was slated to hit 64,175 minutes over 151 days, compared to 63,900 minutes over 180 days.

Leading up to the three-year pilot, a Vinton survey of parents last school year found that 52% said they favored moving to a four-day week, 23% were against it and the rest were undecided. LSC allowed families who wanted a five-day week to transfer to another elementary. Families who wanted to transfer in were allowed to do that, too.

Nearing the end of year one, Preston reported that: