North Texas

Fort Worth ISD Students Go Back to School With Schedule Changes

This change will mean 10 to 15 minutes of more class time.

The back to school blitz goes into overdrive Monday morning as more than two dozen North Texas school districts welcome students back to the classroom.

With the new school year comes a number of changes for Fort Worth ISD, one of the largest districts in North Texas. Students will need to get used to changes to some of the basic building blocks of the school day – start and end times.

New times:

  • High Schools: 8:35 a.m. – 3:40 p.m.
  • Middle Schools: 9:15 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
  • Elementary Schools: 7:50 a.m. – 3 p.m.

This change will mean 10 to 15 minutes more class time and could mean some extra instruction for students needing more assistance.

"It will be a great benefit for students. Allow for more flexibility in scheduling and again the most important thing we are doing in our classrooms is teaching and learning and we want to have as much time on task as possible," Superintendent Kent Scribner said.

Under the old system, Fort Worth ISD had two weather make-up days; Good Friday and the day after school was scheduled to end. The extra time in the classroom now means students will have accumulated enough minutes to meet state classroom requirements without adding extra days.

Some students in the district will now see the addition of an eighth class period. It’s a change Scribner said serves to help students.

"Eight class periods offer an opportunity to be more efficient with scheduling and also allows some students to take higher level advanced classes as well as coordination between our high schools and middle schools,” Scribner said. “We will want to make sure there is a pipeline for success through Fort Worth ISD."

All secondary schools in the district will have the same schedule of eight class periods.

This will give high school students the chance to gain up to 32 credits; giving additional support to those needing credits to graduate. The change will also give middle school students a chance to take high school courses.

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