TEXAS LEADERSHIP PUBLIC SCHOOLS ANNOUNCES
4.5 DAY SCHOOL WEEK, INNOVATION FOCUS AND TEACHER PRIORITY
SAN ANGELO, TEXAS (April 21, 2023) – Texas Leadership Public Schools announced earlier this year that the Board of Directors approved an innovative proposal – a 4.5 Day School Week Calendar as a part of a “School of Innovation” focus in the 2023-2024 school year. This initiative is a direct response to input from Educators that the District sought-out in 2022. Texas Leadership believes they have the chance to be a leader in communities by meeting Educator needs, supporting high-level academics throughout the week, and ensuring families are not left without support for Fridays.
This response adds Texas Leadership to a growing list of schools in Texas prioritizing its Educators, and making changes that would create an innovative environment conducive to high-value education for students. “Our why is simple and straightforward,” says Founder and CEO, Walt Landers. “We want to meet the needs of our teachers, right where they are. We want to provide them with a better work-life balance, reduce stress and burnout, improve family-time, and give them the chance to ‘sharpen the saw’ as we say around here. It’s a Leadership-Principle to add in rest and factor in mental well-being.”
The District says that students are a high priority in this plan. In Texas, Public Charter Schools have consistently been at the forefront of innovation. Texas Leadership continues that forward-thinking reputation by continuing their focus on Advanced Academics, a Public Charter School answer to the State’s Gifted & Talented Program. This program was piloted District-Wide in 2022-2023. “We have seen great gains for students across the District,” says Superintendent Ron Ledbetter. “By implementing Advanced Academics from Kindergarten through 12th grade, we support students at all levels and are seeing growth in our scores. We are confident that we’ll continue seeing growth. I’m excited for our STEM Programs, our Civil Air Patrol [with Credit Hours available in High School] cadets, and that we were accepted into the STEM-based aviation program, Tango Flight which gives High School students the education and experience of building an actual FAA Certified Airplane. Big things are happening here.”
Texas Leadership introduced “Focus Fridays” into the plan, giving teachers the ability to focus on targeted content areas. The goal is to support growth in classroom, while also relieving stress for families who could potentially be impacted by a 4.5 day Innovative Calendar. The District says that although the school-day will end at 12:45 p.m. on Fridays, they are fully prepared with staff who are available to support students through engaged enrichment until the end of the day.
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Texas Leadership Public Schools is a zero-cost Public Charter School that is open to all students with campuses in San Angelo, Midland, Abilene, Arlington and Cedar Hill. Texas Leadership lives its mission of creating an environment that develops people and instills quality education. With leadership at the heart, students grow in all areas of life and excel from the classroom and beyond. For more information please contact [email protected] or visit https://www.TexasLeadership.net