Four-day week turns Monday from dread to excitement for an Iowa second grader
Jayce Moody, 8, used to wander out of his kindergarten and first-grade classrooms. Sometimes he threw things. The school called his mother, Madison Wolfe, at 1 o'clock every day. Then Saydel Community School District moved to a four-day week. Jayce rarely fled his second-grade classroom last year. He jumped several levels in reading and is proficient in all subjects, Wolfe said. Monday mornings used to be "like pulling teeth." Now he is excited to go back. Iowa's Department of Education says 27 districts will run four-day calendars in 2025-26, up from 18 the year before.
Jayce has an ADD diagnosis, and his therapy visits fall on Fridays, when the district is off, so he no longer misses class for them.
Source: Pass or fail? Midwest families and districts are learning from the 4-day school week (iowapublicradio.org).
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