For the past two Wednesdays, students have been getting an extra hour and half off the school day. Meanwhile, teachers stay back until 4:30 pm, working on professional development related activities, discussing future plans and blueprints for improving the learning environment.
Named "Early Release," this type of school day is a new schedule of what used to be called "Professional Development" days, on which students got an entire Friday off. Teachers were first notified of the change sometime towards the end of the 2016-2017 school year, Mrs. Wolf said.
According to Ms. Doleman, the idea of early release was decided at the "school wide leadership level." She also said that "the process gives [staff] a way to collaborate in a systematic way across divisions to ensure unity and coherence in our curriculum. We can have a year one plan to achieve a guaranteed and viable curriculum."
Similarly, various other top international schools use early release days to address school development and improvement. "Some examples in Asia include UNIS Hanoi, Nanjing International School, International School in Japan, and ISB Beijing, which releases ninety minutes early every Wednesday," Ms. Doleman said. Additionally, the practice of early release days are present in many high-performing school districts in the United States.
Some students, such as senior Emily Xi, prefer the full PD days where they had a whole day off. Conversely, some like having more frequent half days, getting the chance to catch up on schoolwork. Others use this extra time to hang out with their friends. Ms. Yuen noticed that some of her students went downtown to Tianzifang, while seniors Sean Cai, Nicole Wang, Jerry Li went to the Putuo area to take photos.
Teacher feedback was more varied. Mrs. Wolf said that she thinks the idea of early release makes professional develop more manageable. "When [professional development] was a full day, I personally would lose stamina and energy," she said. "A half day is much less exhausting."
Mr. Hubbs agreed that the full PD days were very long and tiring. However, they eliminated the extra burden of having to teach on the same day, he said. He also mentioned the huge difference between A and B days on Tuesday and Wednesday of an early release week—not taking account of Monday or Thursday, usual classes last 80 minutes, while classes on early release Day last only 65.
In attempt to pacify this issue the administration have purposely scheduled early release days in pairs, occurring in two consecutive weeks. This way, the cut into classes for both Day A and B are the same.
On the other hand, another teacher's philosophy parallels many SAS parents’. She said she thinks that having 10 early release days a year is taking away too many hours from a student. "Ten times one point five is fifteen hours," she said. "I could teach an entire chapter in that time!"
She proposed that professional development activities be integrated into the weekly after school Wednesday meetings. "I think the school has good intentions, but perhaps has the wrong approach," she said. "Think of it like this. If I want to be pretty, I don’t have to do plastic surgery. I could change my attire, or put on makeup."
Because the early release has only gone through two sessions so far, its effectiveness and future implications are yet to be seen. Nevertheless, students may continue enjoying their half days off. And, well, for the teachers? There’s no longer a need for them to be jealous of their students getting a three-day weekend.
Allison Ma
Named "Early Release," this type of school day is a new schedule of what used to be called "Professional Development" days, on which students got an entire Friday off. Teachers were first notified of the change sometime towards the end of the 2016-2017 school year, Mrs. Wolf said.
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| Taken from Schoology |
According to Ms. Doleman, the idea of early release was decided at the "school wide leadership level." She also said that "the process gives [staff] a way to collaborate in a systematic way across divisions to ensure unity and coherence in our curriculum. We can have a year one plan to achieve a guaranteed and viable curriculum."
Similarly, various other top international schools use early release days to address school development and improvement. "Some examples in Asia include UNIS Hanoi, Nanjing International School, International School in Japan, and ISB Beijing, which releases ninety minutes early every Wednesday," Ms. Doleman said. Additionally, the practice of early release days are present in many high-performing school districts in the United States.
Some students, such as senior Emily Xi, prefer the full PD days where they had a whole day off. Conversely, some like having more frequent half days, getting the chance to catch up on schoolwork. Others use this extra time to hang out with their friends. Ms. Yuen noticed that some of her students went downtown to Tianzifang, while seniors Sean Cai, Nicole Wang, Jerry Li went to the Putuo area to take photos.
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| Sean Cai and Nicole Wang after school on early release day, taken by Jerry Li |
Teacher feedback was more varied. Mrs. Wolf said that she thinks the idea of early release makes professional develop more manageable. "When [professional development] was a full day, I personally would lose stamina and energy," she said. "A half day is much less exhausting."
Mr. Hubbs agreed that the full PD days were very long and tiring. However, they eliminated the extra burden of having to teach on the same day, he said. He also mentioned the huge difference between A and B days on Tuesday and Wednesday of an early release week—not taking account of Monday or Thursday, usual classes last 80 minutes, while classes on early release Day last only 65.
In attempt to pacify this issue the administration have purposely scheduled early release days in pairs, occurring in two consecutive weeks. This way, the cut into classes for both Day A and B are the same.
On the other hand, another teacher's philosophy parallels many SAS parents’. She said she thinks that having 10 early release days a year is taking away too many hours from a student. "Ten times one point five is fifteen hours," she said. "I could teach an entire chapter in that time!"
She proposed that professional development activities be integrated into the weekly after school Wednesday meetings. "I think the school has good intentions, but perhaps has the wrong approach," she said. "Think of it like this. If I want to be pretty, I don’t have to do plastic surgery. I could change my attire, or put on makeup."
Because the early release has only gone through two sessions so far, its effectiveness and future implications are yet to be seen. Nevertheless, students may continue enjoying their half days off. And, well, for the teachers? There’s no longer a need for them to be jealous of their students getting a three-day weekend.
Allison Ma
