Georgia school district sees benefits of four-day week for students and staff

Friday marked the first day of school for all five schools in the Chatooga County School District nearly a decade after making the switch to a four-day school week.

CBS News Atlanta sat down with Superintendent Michelle Helie, who told us the model is extremely popular among students and staff.

"For us, having that Monday allows our students time to go to doctor's appointments," said Helie. "We have students who also work. That's a part of our work-based learning program that's at the high school, and it gives them an extra day to get that in."

Helie said the model was adopted in 2010 to cut back on costs, but since then has provided tons of benefits to students and staff such as increased morale, improved academic performance, and fewer discipline issues.

The school district has since used it for 14 years, opting for a five-day model for two years.

"You get to recover on the weekends," said Helie, "You get that three-day week, and then the teachers have extra instructional time during the school day, so because we have a longer day it gives them more time per class period to do things in the classroom."

Helie said other school districts in Georgia are now looking to Chatooga County as they consider changing their school weeks.

"I've had probably around five or six school districts within the state of Georgia over the last two years reach out and just want our data," said Helie.

Two school districts in Tennessee and one in Alabama also brought similar inquiries to Helie.

For Chatooga County students, high schoolers report at 7:45 a.m. and elementary and middle schoolers report at 8 a.m. Tuesday through Friday.

All students are dismissed at 3:30 p.m.

Teachers report between 7 and 7:15 a.m. and wrap their day at 4:30 p.m.