While high schoolers will no longer get to sleep in once a month, they can enjoy an afternoon away from school every Wednesday in the upcoming school year.
On the evening of Jan. 15, the Wentzville School District Board of Education voted in favor of moving forward with integrating a new schedule for students in the upcoming 2026-2027 school year.
The new schedule largely focuses on integrating a weekly postsecondary early release, coupled with a monthly all district early release. Students in Wentzville middle schools and high schools will be released 68 minutes early each Wednesday (during typical 5-day school weeks), with one Wednesday each month being designated as an all district two-hour early release.
Additionally, the high schools’ hybrid block days will be moving from Wednesday and Thursday, to Tuesday and Wednesday. Students will attend 4 classes, each lasting 89 minutes on Tuesdays. Wednesdays will feature 3 classes of the same length, along with a reduced Nest Time, lasting only 42 minutes. On weeks that include the all district, 2 hour early release, Nest Time will be skipped entirely.
The length of Power Lunch on non-block days will be slightly reduced, lasting 52 minutes rather than 60. On early release Wednesdays, however, Power Lunch will be greatly shortened to an unspecified amount of time. On all district, 2 hour early release days, lunch will last 13 minutes like students are accustomed to with pervious early release schedules.
The amount of time away from school will also be reduced, with the cut of 2 of the 5 currently scheduled PD (personal development) days. This means next school year will include an additional two days of education.
Middle schoolers will see changes to their schedules as well. What is now known as “Flex Time,” what currently acts as a study hall for students, will be completely removed. This time has been worked elsewhere into their schedule in order to afford them more educational time.
A total of five Wentzville residents spoke to the board during the public comment portion. Three of the speakers were students expressing their concerns about a potential precedent being set by reducing time spent in power lunch. “The livelihood of the overall student body is far more important than smaller issues [the board] has concerns over,” said one North Point student.
Alternatively, teachers shared how the new schedule would allow them to have easier, more defined collaborative plan time. “Teachers have been operating for several years now with only two hours of release time each month, and it is simply not enough,” said one WSD teacher.
The schedule in the upcoming year, while a large change, is sure to provide teachers with more time to plan out curriculum, and collaborate with their fellow staff.
