Greetings,
I wanted to take the time to inform you, our stakeholders, about an upcoming change at Cody Middle School. Our teachers currently utilize Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) to drive instruction and ensure lessons are addressing the academic needs of our students. This is one of the most effective practices used in education. Knowing that, we have tried to ensure that our teachers have adequate time to use the PLC process to its fullest potential. Currently PLCs are taking place often early in the morning, late at night, or during the time specifically set aside for teacher lesson planning and grading.
To address this, we will be instituting a late start on Thursdays, each week, starting Thursday, October 14th. School will start at 8:20am, rather than 8:00am. The most important part of this message that I can convey moving forward is that this will not impact drop-off or bussing in any way. Students will still be dropped off at the same time and the bussing schedule will not be altered. We understand the potential impact that would have on our families and have no intentions of causing that kind of undue stress.
The overall impact of the day will be minimal, while the impact on instruction and student learning will be large. On Thursdays, passing periods will be reduced by 30 seconds and classes reduced by 1 minute and 30 seconds. These small schedule changes will address the 20 minute late start.
From 8:00am - 8:20am, students will be separated by grade level throughout the building, either in the gym, cafeteria, or library. Staff will provide supervision, and students can use this time to work on homework, collaborate with peers, or simply relax before the school day starts.
I want to provide as much clarity as possible and, in doing so, I will be holding a brief forum at the middle school on Wednesday, September 29th from 5:00 - 5:30pm to answer questions. I will also be available any time during parent teacher conferences to answer questions regarding the work of our PLCs or the implementation of the late start schedule.
I appreciate all of the support you provide to Cody Middle School. As we move through this transition, if you have concerns, please reach out at 307-587-4273. Again, this change will not impact drop off times or transportation in any way, and it will have an immense positive impact on the educational experience of our students. Thank you for your time spent reading this and have a wonderful weekend. Go Broncs and Fillies!
Respectfully,
Nathan Tedjeske, Principal
Jacob Gogan, Assistant Principal