At the regularly scheduled board meeting on Monday, March 25, the Joshua ISD Board of Trustees unanimously approved the 2024-25 school calendar, which includes a hybrid four-day school week schedule. 

The decision comes after a thorough review of the district's academic processes and gathering feedback from families, staff and other districts that have made a similar change. The hybrid nature of the calendar comprises Mondays off except for the months of August and April. The school week during those two months will run as five-day school weeks to establish routine procedures at the beginning of school and to accommodate testing periods in April. 

Click here to view the approved 2024-25 JISD calendar. 

The four-day school week provides a hiring advantage for the district and adds incentives for teacher retention such as allowing teachers more flexibility for planning, grading, and professional development, which will ultimately benefit students. The calendar also provides students and staff with additional days throughout the year to attend extracurricular events, personal appointments, or other activities that would normally disrupt their academic schedule. This would allow for higher student and staff attendance, benefiting students academically and reducing reliance on substitutes, which have been in short supply in Texas.

The new schedule will lengthen school days by 25 total minutes to ensure the district exceeds the Texas Education Agency's class minutes time requirement. Extended class periods will create additional time for teachers to have direct, one-on-one educational interactions with students. The grading periods will change from six weeks to nine weeks, thus reducing testing. 

Elementary first bell is 7:30 a.m., while the tardy bell will be at 7:40 a.m. The school day will end at 3:30 p.m. The secondary start time will begin at 8:15 a.m. and end at 4:15 p.m.

On the Mondays off, JISD will provide a childcare option similar to our Club Excel summer camp program. The new program called Owl Camp will be of little cost to families, though the district will work to accommodate situations where financial assistance is needed. More information about this program will be shared closer to the start of school. 

JISD is committed to providing high-quality education to its students, and this decision is a reflection of that commitment. The district is confident that the four-day school week will enhance the learning experience and prepare students for success beyond JISD.