WCS To Implement Late Start PLC Thursdays
WARSAW — Beginning with the 2017-2018 school year, Warsaw Community Schools will begin implementing a late start on Thursday mornings to allow teachers to collaborate and target data to enhance instruction.
For the past 6 years, WCS has used the professional learning communities model to focus on data and collaboration to inform instruction. Warsaw Community High school has piloted student release time within the day to allow for teacher collaboration during the past 6 years as well. WCS has decided to extend this time district-wide due to the impact on student learning this collaboration is having. Beginning on the first Thursday of the school year (August 17, 2017), WCS students will observe a late start. This allows teachers to utilize that time to analyze student data to identify and respond to each student’s unique needs.
In coordination with Thursday’s late start time, WCS transportation will run on a 50-minute later schedule on Thursdays. The late start Thursday for PLCs will not occur in the case of a 2-hour delay schedule; students will observe the 2-hour delay but PLC time for teachers will not occur. In addition, should school be canceled due to inclement weather or a holiday such as fall break or Thanksgiving, WCS will not have the PLC late start time nor will WCS move the late start to another day of the week.
In order to facilitate the smoothest possible transition to this new schedule, Warsaw Community Schools has collaborated with both private and local preschools on this change. Below is a schedule of start times for each school in the district. PLC late start Thursdays will not affect school end times.