WOOLWICH TWP. – Students at Kingsway Middle and High School on Sept. 2 should be better rested, at least that is the goal of the administration change in arrival times for students.
Students at Kingsway have their start times pushed back by 30 minutes. According to Dr. James J. Lavender, Superintendent of Schools of the Kingsway Regional School District, this will have little to no impact on instruction time.
“As we prepare to return to a traditional school year,” Lavender said in August, “school officials have reflected on student experiences throughout pandemic, parent and student survey feedback, and the overwhelming support of the medical community to align schedules to the natural sleep cycles of adolescents.”
The new arrival time, according to the Kingsway Regional High School bell schedule, will be 7:34 a.m. with first bell at 7:54 a.m. The new dismissal time will now be 2:28 p.m. instead of the previous 2:38 p.m. time. The middle school’s new start time for students is 7:40 a.m., with a dismissal at 2:38 pm instead of 2:48 p.m.
Lavender said that all the area elementary schools because they share the same transportation buses, collaborated on the change in schedules and adjusted their schedules by no more than 10 minutes.
Lavender said Kingsway’s new morning arrival will include a structured study component, and dismissal times will not interfere with after school activities and athletics. He said the new schedule “may result in improved student attendance, reduced tardiness and fewer behavioral infractions”.
When asked if the change in time would interfere with parent’s scheduled time to leave for work, Lavender stated that all the feedback from Kingsway’s community was very positive on the change.
By Karen E. Viereck, Editor/Publisher
