As four-day work weeks have begun to gain traction for many Canadian companies, there's a new twist on the concept that could shake up the school weeks for students in Ottawa.
The Conseil des écoles catholiques du Centre-Est (CECCE), a French Catholic school board, is considering a pilot program for a shorter school week at two of its elementary schools.
The board believes it would be the first in Ontario, and one of the first in North America, to offer this kind of schedule.
The schools selected for the pilot project are École élémentaire catholique l'Étoile-de-l'Est in Orléans and École élémentaire catholique Saint-Rémi in Kanata.
Student participation in the program would be voluntary, and families will be able to choose whether they want to participate or stick to the traditional five-day schedule.
"Whether it's to spend more time having fun, cooking, doing activities or playing sports, in the hectic pace of everyday life, families will have one more day per week to maximize their quality time," School counsellors Jolène Savoie-Day and Robert Rainboth said in a release.
The school year would begin a week earlier than usual, on August 22, and end three days later for students on the four-day week schedule, on June 25, 2024.
School days would be extended by 38 minutes per day to offer the same number of teaching hours in total during the school year.
There have been mixed reactions to the school board's announcement on Facebook.
"I am wondering if kids whose parents have to opt for five days a week will be put in much larger classes to accommodate this project while kids on a 4-day schedule will be in much smaller classes," one person said.
"Love the idea!! Wish my school board would go to a 4-day week," another person wrote.
The program is still pending provincial approval, and the provincial government is currently backing a five-day-week system.
"The Ministry of Education's position is that students should continue to learn in school for 5 days a week with a focus on improving reading, writing and math and expanding mental health supports," a spokesperson for Education Minister Stephen Lecce's office told Narcity in an email.
