One of the first questions people ask is, "How long would the school day be?". It depends on the district, but in the model that we are proposing, our elementary-age kids would be in school 7 hours a day (right now they go about 6.5 hours a day), and high school students would be in school around 7.5 hours. For instance, Central Linn Elementary students are in school from 8:15 am till 3:15 am, and the high school's hours are 8:00 am till 3:34 pm. In the successful models I've looked at, teachers use some of the Fridays for conferences, professional development, and staff meetings.This means that they don't have to take time out of the regular school day, which saves on substitute costs and means they're in the classroom more.
4-day districts either close the schools on Monday or Friday. Some have adopted the Monday model in the hopes of saving more money, because less activities are scheduled in the buildings on that day, so the school can really be shut down to save utilities. Other districts prefer to take Fridays off to reduce absenteeism due to sports teams traveling, other extracurricular activities, and family trips. Some districts only run on the 4-day schedule in the winter months.
On the 4-day schedule, if you have a holiday on a regular school day, school is held on Friday to maintain the 4-day week. On my favorite schedule, the only irregular weeks are the week of Thanksgiving and the last week of school, when the last day is a half day. Some districts break the rule once or twice a year for the end of the grading period.
Any other questions on the schedule? I will add links to sample schedules when I have time.
