Georgia school district’s 4-day week gains statewide attention

SUMMERVILLE, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - As students across Georgia head back to school, one district has operated on a four-day school week for more than a decade — and other districts are taking notice.

Friday marked the first day of school for all five schools in the Chattooga County School District. Students attend classes Tuesday through Friday, with every Monday off.

Chattooga County is about 90 miles northwest of Atlanta.

The district adopted the four-day schedule in 2010 as a cost-saving measure. Since then, the model has been found to improve morale and academic performance while also reducing discipline issues. The district used the schedule for 14 years, briefly switching to a five-day model for two years before returning to the four-day week.

Superintendent Michelle Helie said the model is extremely popular among students and staff, and that the Monday off serves a practical purpose beyond rest.

“For us, having that Monday allows our students time to go to doctor’s appointments,” Helie said. “We have students who also work. That’s a part of our work-based learning program that’s at the high school, and it gives them an extra day to get that in.”

Helie said the longer school days also benefit teachers.

“You get to recover on the weekends. You get that three-day week, and then the teachers have extra instructional time during the school day because we have a longer day, and so it gives them more time per class period to do things in the classroom,” she said.

The model is drawing attention from other districts. Helie said five or six Georgia school districts have reached out over the last two years requesting data on the schedule. Two school districts in Tennessee and one in Alabama have also made similar inquiries.

“I’ve had probably around five or six school districts within the state of Georgia over the last two years reach out and just want our data,” Helie said.

High school students report at 7:45 a.m. Tuesday through Friday. Elementary and middle school students report at 8 a.m. All students are dismissed at 3:30 p.m.