POLAND — Early releases on Wednesdays for all RSU 16 students will probably be the most significant change students and parents can expect this school year, Superintendent Tina Meserve said this week.

“Starting the Wednesday after Labor Day students will be released one hour early every Wednesday for the entire school year,” she said.

The change will allow for teacher workshops from 2:30 to 5 p.m. Wednesdays.

For elementary students at Elm Street School in Mechanic Falls, Minot Consolidated School and Poland Community School classes will be dismissed at about 2:15 p.m. Classes at the Whittier Middle School and Poland Regional High School will be dismissed about 1:15 p.m.

Study halls and special programs will be available for students whose parents want them to remain the additional hour at school. However, because buses will leave an hour earlier, transportation home will be the parents’ responsibility.

The early release schedule eliminates the six half-day releases used in recent years to provide staff with time for professional development. The six days didn’t provide enough time to deal with requirements, Meserve said.

They include:

* Alignment with the Common Core Standards requires that teachers learn about and understand what these standards mean in terms of student learning at each grade level in literacy and math.

* Development of plans and policies for proficiency-based graduation diplomas will require the revamping of graduation expectations, the creation of new student assessments and the curriculum and instructions to go with them, with implications for grades K-12.

* After the high school’s accreditation visit this fall, the school will be asked to develop plans and processes to meet any recommendations cited.

* Elementary teachers will need to develop curriculum, instruction and assessment that is common to all three schools in order to fulfill the promise of consolidation.

* Teachers will work toward the goals of the district’s newly adopted comprehensive strategic plan.

The early releases will be piggy-backed onto a stipulation in teacher contracts that requires another one and a half hours weekly for professional development, resulting in teacher workshops from 2:30 to 5 p.m. every Wednesday.

“Release time can be a challenge for working parents,” Meserve said, “but we talked with parents at PTO meetings and received surveys from over 200 parents. Feedback supported the one-hour early release, especially for its consistency.”

Curriculum changes include expanding the music program to cover grades kindergarten to two. Last year Jillian Martins covered all three elementary schools, grades three to six. This year she will teach kindergarten to sixth grade students at Poland Community School and newly hired Aaron Gagnon will teach the same grades at the Elm Street and Minot Consolidated schools.

New technology course offerings at Poland Regional High School include Introduction to Computer Program and Game Development and Website Design and Development.

“The course additions are all made in response to feedback we received at our strategic planning sessions,” Meserve said, “we’re looking forward to a busy, and productive, year.”