News & Information

For the 2010-11 school year, Bellingham School District students in grades kindergarten through five will attend elementary school from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Middle school and high school students will have the same start and end times as they do this year: 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. for middle school and 7:45 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. for high school.

The district received more than 2,000 survey responses with students, parents and staff providing input on start and end times, and this was the preferred option of the two presented.

"We heard from elementary school parents that they appreciated the convenience of having the same start and end times for students in primary and intermediate grades. We also recognize that a later start for elementary school creates morning childcare issues for many working parents. Please know that our schools will be working closely with their parent organizations to offer before-school enrichment opportunities for children as well as with the YMCA to expand on-site, before-school childcare," says Acting Superintendent Sherrie Brown.  

Next year, all students in grades 1-5 will have 1,625 minutes of instructional time per week in literacy, math, science, social studies and the arts, plus at least 75 minutes per week with specialists for physical education and music. Students in grades 3-5 will have the same amount of core instructional time next year as they have this year. Students in grades 1-2 will have 75 more minutes each week of core instructional time and will now have access to specialists for physical education and music. Kindergarteners will also have music and physical education instruction from specialists. This increase in core instructional time for our youngest children is important for their future academic success as they develop foundational literacy and thinking skills. For more details and answers to other frequently asked questions, please click here.

The aligned elementary school schedule and kindergarten schedule will save the district at least $170,000 annually in transportation efficiencies. 

The schedule for the regular kindergarten program will be every other day, full-day or the option of every day, full-day. The specific kindergarten schedule (which days students on the every other day schedule will attend school) is in the process of being determined and will be posted on the Kindergarten Web page as soon as it is available.

"Regarding middle and high school start and end times, we heard from many students and parents that they would prefer a later start time while others wanted to be released earlier because of after-school jobs, sports and activities," Brown said. "We are unable to change or align middle and high school schedules for next school year due to the number of buses that we currently have and the lead time required for planning and other logistics. However, we heard that greater flexibility for middle and high school schedules is an initiative that should be pursued in the future."

Based upon parent input, the district will also reduce the overall number of early release days for next school year. The early release day schedule will be determined and posted later this spring at http://bellinghamschools.org/audience/calendars