Some Schools Will Start Younger Students On ‘Staggered Calendar’ This Year

'Staggered Start' Means Children Start School On Different Days Of Year

By

Some of the state’s youngest students will start the year with a “staggered start,” a system in which children begin their school year on different days.

Milwaukee Public Schools, will start 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds on one of three days (Sept. 2, 3, or 4) instead of having all students start on Sept. 2.

Yolanda Tynes-Allison, interim director of early childhood education at MPS, said that having smaller class sizes initially helps kindergarteners as they transition from home to school.

Stay informed on the latest news

Sign up for WPR’s email newsletter.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

“It allows us, for the first three days of school, to have smaller groups of students start,” she said. “So in lieu of having, for example, 24 K-5 students on the first day, we’ll have eight, eight, and eight. And that way teachers can build a more meaningful relationship and get to know the students on a more personal basis.”

MPS said that it’s informing parents of the staggered start so students arrive on the correct day, but that no students will be turned away if they arrive on the wrong start day.