BREMEN — Beginning Aug. 20, the school day will start at 8:25 a.m. every Thursday for all Bremen Public Schools students in grades K-12, instead of the typical 8 a.m. start time.

School bus routes will run a half hour later each Thursday morning. Students may come to school as early as 7:45 a.m. and enjoy breakfast in the high school cafeteria under direct supervision of school employees.

The later start time will allow all teachers, K-12, to meet from 7:45 to 8:15 each Thursday morning. During this structured time, teachers will analyze data that will drive instruction, participate in professional development activities and collaborate regarding school improvement initiatives.
The overall goal of this time is to help more students achieve at higher levels.

“It is becoming more and more important for professional educators to answer questions and resolve issues by building shared knowledge,” said Bremen Superintendent Russ Mikel. “This is what we need to do. We’re in a position where we’re a good school corporation but we’re ready to take the next step and become a great school corporation.”

Quality review teams of professional educators from outside the corporation recently conducted extensive reviews of Bremen Public Schools.

“They both recommended that we focus on the K-12 collaboration piece,” Mikel said.

In past years, teacher collaboration and staff development took place during six “Early Release Days” throughout the school year. On those days, students were dismissed after lunch. However, a new state law has eliminated the option of half days by requiring all instructional days to be full days.

School end times will remain the same. K-8 students will still be dismissed at 3:05 p.m. High school students will be dismissed at 3:10 p.m. (2:50 p.m. on Fridays).

Questions or concerns may be directed to K-8 Principal Larry Yelaska at 574-546-3554 or Bremen High School Principal Bruce Jennings at 574-546-3511.