New Start, End Times Announced for Vernon Schools

VERNON, CT — Vernon Superintendent of Schools Joseph Macary on Tuesday announced a revised schedules for the town's seven public schools in conjunction with a new transportation contract.

The new times are:

• Rockville High School: 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Vernon Center Middle School: 7:45 a.m. to 2:15 p.m.
• Center Road School: 8:15 a.m. to 2:45 p.m.
• Lake Street Schoo:l 8:15 a.m. to 2:45 p.m.
• Maple Street School: 8:15 a.m. to 2:45 p.m.
• Northeast School 8:45 a.m. to 3:15 p.m.
• Skinner Road School 8:45 a.m. to 3:15 p.m.

Here is Macary's letter to the school community:

Dear Parents & Guardians,

Re: Bus Stops & School Times

We hope that you and your children are enjoying the summer season. This is a great time of

the year to relax and reenergize for the upcoming new school year. Please remember to read

20 minutes a day to keep up your literacy skills. There are a few items; we would like you to

know to prepare for the 2017-2018 school year.

Our school bus transportation contract expired on June 30, 2017. The five year contract was

put out to bid to allow vendors submitted proposals to service our students. The First Student

bus company will continue to provide us with regular education and special education

transportation for the 2017-2018 school year. However, the Board of Education has been

able to negotiate some additional benefits for our students that we are very excited about.

There will be new walking distances for students going to school and between bus stops.

The walking distances for students have been reduced at all levels. Elementary walking

distances and bus stops will now be 0.5 mile as opposed to 1.0 mile. Middle school walking

distances and bus stops will now be 1.0 mile as opposed to 1.5 miles and High School

walking distances and bus stops will now be 1.0 mile as opposed to 2.0 miles. This is a

significant decrease in the amount of walking distances for our students. We have research

data that indicates students who live 1.0 to 2.0 miles away from the high school had

increased absence rates, due to the extended walking distance.

In order to accommodate these changes and to standardize our school hours for educational

equity, we have established new starting and dismissal times for all of our schools. These

changes are minor to our school schedules. The following schedules have been established

for the 2017-2018 school year:

School Start Time Dismissal

Rockville High School 7:30AM 2:00PM

Vernon Center Middle School 7:45AM 2:15PM

Center Road School 8:15AM 2:45PM

Lake Street School 8:15AM 2:45PM

Maple Street School 8:15AM 2:45PM

Northeast School 8:45AM 3:15PM

Skinner Road School 8:45AM 3:15PM

The 2017-2018 Bus Transportation Routes (including new stops) for all Vernon Public

Schools will be posted on the district website one week before school starts.

Thank you very much for your support of the Vernon Public Schools. We all look forward to

seeing our students back in school on August 30th. (There are only 50 days left of summer

vacation.) Enjoy the rest of the summer!

Joseph P. Macary, Ed.D.

Superintendent of Schools

Town of Vernon, Connecticut

Photo Credit: Patch File