Start Barrington High classes at 9 a.m. or later, panel says
Input 220 announced Wednesday night that the advisory panel will recommend no district student should start the school day before 8 a.m. and that Barrington High students should start their day at 9 a.m. at the earliest.
The advisory council, made up of Barrington Area Unit School District 220 community members, was asked by the school board in February 2015 to find out if the district should and could optimize the start and end times of the school day to enhance student learning and performance.
During an information session Wednesday night at Station Middle School, Input 220 members showed community members the three school start time options they will present to the board at its Feb. 16 meeting, almost a year to the day after the advisory committee was given its charge.
All three options call for the district's elementary schools to start their day at 8 a.m. and end at 2:40 p.m. and for the middle schools to begin at 8:50 a.m. and dismiss at 3:45 p.m.
The plans vary regarding the high school. The first option would begin students' day at 9 a.m. and let out at 3:18 p.m., the second would start at 9:15 a.m. and let out at 3:33 p.m., and the third option would start at 9:30 a.m. and let out at 3:48 p.m.
While the length of the school day would not change for the district's elementary and middle school students, the advisory council will recommend that Barrington High students switch to a college-style block schedule that would feature fewer classes per day but with each around 88 minutes long.
The advisory council based its recommendations on a review of thousands of pages of academic research, interviewing people from school districts who have made similar schedule shifts, the results of a Barrington 220 communitywide survey and an analysis of how a schedule change would affect transportation in the Barrington area.
More information on the advisory council's recommendations, including a video of Wednesday night's meeting can be found at barrington220.org.