Minimal Mondays

"Minimal Monday" is a creative solution the district came up with to provide professional development for teachers in spite of the fact that the state drastically reduced funding for professional development. 

• Track A students come from 8:00-12:30
• Track B students come from 9:15-1:45
• AM Kinder runs from 9:15-11:15
• PM Kinder runs from 11:45-1:45

"Minimal Monday" will occur four times this year--Sept 26th, November 14th, February 13th, and March 26th.  While the students do leave about an hour earlier than they usually do on a Monday, this time allows the staff to engage in professional development activities from 2:00-5:00 and the district only needs to compensate the teachers for one hour of contract time (a teacher's contract hours are 7:30-4:00). This time is very valuable because it allows all of the staff to be together for a significant period of time to discuss student learning.

Jason Theler
Principal, Thunder Ridge Elementary