Education
BY MARK FADDEN
GCISD students will have longer school days next school year
Grapevine-Colleyville ISD board members approved the 2025-26 school calendar Jan. 13 that includes 10 minutes more of instructional time each day for elementary, middle and high schools in the district. The details According to a district news release, all cam- puses will begin five minutes earlier and dismiss five minutes later than the 2024-25 school year every day for the 2025-26 school year. The new schedule allows GCISD to designate two instructional planning days within a teach- er’s 187-day contract when students will be out of school while also keeping the school year beginning on a Wednesday and still ending before Memorial Day. The news release states these days will occur at the end of grading periods for staff to plan and design the following:
• Student learning with teams • Data analysis
New school hours for 2025-26 Elementary school: 7:35 a.m.-3:05 p.m. Middle school: 8:05 a.m.-3:35 p.m. High school: 8:35 a.m.-4:05 p.m.
• Hold professional learning communities • Address any additional classroom needs Diving deeper The news release states adjustments will be made at the high school level to nine-periods. This new schedule will include eight 45-minute periods of classes with one period designated for lunch. The new schedule allows an increase to teacher lunch time to 45 minutes while simultaneously maintaining the opportunity for students to earn eight credits each school year. The total length of the school day in the new schedule is similar to surrounding districts, according to the news release. It also increases the high schools’ ability to strategically sched- ule courses that require travel to and from the opposite high school while minimizing lost
Changes to 2025-26 academic calendar were based on feedback from:
• District leadership teams • Campus principals • Various departments • District Excellence Committee • Education Advisory Committee
SOURCE: GRAPEVINE-COLLEYVILLE ISD/COMMUNITY IMPACT
instructional time. According to the Texas Education Agency, the state requires all school districts to have at least 75,600 minutes of instruction each year.
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