Thousands of students in New Brunswick will spend more time in the classroom this year.
The school day for kindergarten to Grade 2 students has been extended by one hour.
As a result, the province’s youngest students will now have the same dismissal time as those in Grades 3 to 8.
Derek O’Brien, the superintendent of the Anglophone South School District, said it is a welcome move.
“It certainly does bring us in line with other jurisdictions, so we’re very glad to be having them in the building [for a full day],” O’Brien told our newsroom.
The change was announced by the Department of Education in March in order to give schools and families time to prepare.
O’Brien said they did have to make some adjustments to start and end times at some schools throughout the district.
“We were very lucky as a district because that did have a very minimal impact on school schedules. There might be an adjustment of five to 15 minutes in a particular school or another,” he said.
There have also been some adjustments to bus schedules, most of which O’Brien said were communicated with families last spring.
Deputy Education Minister Ryan Donaghy has said the extra learning time will allow greater flexibility to meet students’ needs and interests.
“This extra time is beneficial for the students, as there is more time to deepen and consolidate their learning,” Donaghy said in a letter to families in March.
“In addition, teachers will have more time to offer interventions and personalized learning opportunities.”
Students in 17 schools across the province were already getting an extra hour of instructional time each day, according to the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.
The 10 anglophone and seven francophone schools had been taking part in a research project since the 2017-18 school year.
“Although research was halted after two years because of the pandemic, initial results show that adding the extra hour of instruction is beneficial for student learning and well-being,” said a department spokesperson.
