From the Chinooks Edge School Division:

It has been a year since Chinook’s Edge launched Weekdays 'til 6, a unique approach to managing the amount of electronic communication that previously bombarded staff long after the workday was done.

Weekdays ‘til 6 is a new practice in Chinook’s Edge which means all non-emergency emails and texts will only be sent prior to 6:00 p.m. on weekdays.

Since its launch, information requests have been received from school divisions, wellness organizations and media throughout the province.

Most importantly, Weekdays til 6 has honoured the personal time of families and staff, to ensure teachers and school staff are refreshed and prepared to deliver their very best work to students each day.

Superintendent of Schools for the Chinooks Edge School Division Kurt Sacher says this is a way for them to protect both their staff and the parents of students from feeling bombarded by work, giving them time to relax with their family and turn off their work brain in the evening.

“We want them to make it a priority to take care of themselves, spend time with their family, and it just sets them up to be more positive and helpful the following day when they are working with children and youth.”

Sacher says this has been positive for parents as well.

“We find that parents don’t always appreciate an 8 pm text or email about their child and then they have to have that interaction late at night when everyone is tired. It’s just better when all of that is received during the day when we are fresh.”

In their second year of the completely voluntary program, Sacher says they've heard nothing but positive support, with other school divisions and municipalities of all sizes reaching out to Chinooks Edge for more information on their 'Weekdays til 6' program.

Sacher also says the number of emails sent out in total has also gone down, as they've noticed a lot of unnecessary emails are being sent out later in the evening, and they've been able to minimize that which has been having a very positive impact on the entire schools culture and attitude.

An overview of Weekdays 'til 6.

  • Weekdays ‘til 6 is a new practice in Chinook’s Edge which means all non-emergency emails and texts will only be sent prior to 6:00 p.m. on weekdays.
  • Weekdays ‘til 6 is about honouring your personal time as parents, families, students and staff. Our hope is that everyone in our Chinook’s Edge school communities enjoys a healthy work/life balance which involves evenings spent with family and friends, time participating in volunteer efforts and other activities you value, and looking after your health through physical activity, hobbies, rest and reading!
  • Late-night email/text exchanges can prove troublesome for all of us - students, families and staff - for a number of reasons. Among these is the fact that fatigue often leads to decision-making that is less collaborative and not as thoroughly thought-out as we would like. As well, research has found a number of unhealthy results stem from too much ‘screen time’, particularly ‘blue light in the evening’, and we are seeing a societal shift towards taking a break from technology devices when the work day is done.
  • Chinook’s Edge strives to ensure our staff are ready to deliver their very best to our students each day! We realize that their demanding roles in education requires many of our staff to continue to work in the evenings, as they plan and prepare for the next day. However, Weekdays ‘til 6 ensures this evening work does not include emails and texts which, like any business, will be responded to during business hours.
  • We recognize that evenings are often the best time for teachers and parents to reach one another, and we know that in many cases teachers will continue to phone parents as they have done in the past. Weekdays ‘til 6 relates only to emails and texts. Our teachers and staff will continue to be working in the evenings if required, but they will be sending and responding to emails and texts only before 6:00 p.m. in most cases. We are asking parents to support a next school-day response to non-emergency emails and texts.
  • We recognize that Weekdays ‘til 6 is a shift in our division, and we appreciate everyone’s support as we find our way forward together. We care about the wellness of our students, families and staff, and endeavour to buffer everyone in our schools from the unsustainable expectation that people are available to respond immediately at any hour to emails and texts.
  • In the end, we are convinced Weekdays ‘til 6 is in the best interest of the students we serve. 

Weekdays ‘til 6 is not a policy, it is an approach that is being led by the Central Office Leadership Team and supported by the Board of Education. As we continue to explore our electronic communication routines in Chinook’s Edge, we have heard from parents that we over-communicate at times with automated texts and emails. We will be continuing to review and tweak our approach to e-communications when necessary, in our efforts to support student, family and staff wellness. Thank you!