Late starts, early dismissals coming to some Winnipeg schools

Some students in the Winnipeg School Division (WSD) will be assigned late start or early dismissal times as part of a new pilot project.

According to the WSD, the division has opted to try something new after staff noticed that nearly 2,500 students don’t make it to school regularly.

“That’s a big deal and we take that really, really seriously,” said Matt Henderson, WSD superintendent, in an interview on Tuesday.

As part of this pilot project, students at some high schools will either start an hour later or leave an hour earlier once a week.

The goal is to allow teachers to look at which students are missing school and strategize about how to get them back in the classroom.

“It’s about ensuring that kids know that there are adults that care about them at school, that kids feel that they belong and that what we’re communicating to kids is that we need you here, we love you and so let’s get you to school,” Henderson said.

Seven schools are taking part in the pilot project, and each school will be able to tailor the initiative to fit its needs.

According to Henderson, the division plans to push back exam periods and provide more instructional time to make up for lost time.

“There is this long tradition of instruction ending pretty early in June and we feel that we can push that back and actually give more days of instruction even with a late start or an early dismissal, but we need all hands on deck,” he said.

The pilot project is set to begin on Feb. 5.