Since the publication of this article, PGCPS has changed their announcement. On April 4, Superintendent Millard House II announced the planned bell time shifts will create three bell time tiers encompassing a mix of school levels. This plan will not shift all elementary schools to 7:30 a.m., nor all middle schools and Pre-K – 8 academies to 8:30 a.m., nor all high schools to 9:30 a.m.
For more, see our update in the April 11 issue: https://www.greenbeltnewsreview.com/news-stories/school-bell-time-shifts-now-clarified/.
For more on transportation changes for the School Year 2024-25 see our April 4 issue: https://www.greenbeltnewsreview.com/news-stories/pgcps-makes-transportation-changes-to-rectify-longtime-woes/
School bell times will be consolidated across the county beginning in August this year. For the next school year there will only be three start times for schools, each an hour apart and dismissal will be at one of six standardized times. The changes were announced by the Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) administration at the March Board of Education meeting and are part of attempts to implement recommendations from the recent transportation audit and rectify several years of transportation challenges for the county.
The new start time for all public elementary schools in Prince George’s County will be 7:30 a.m. The start time for Pre-K to 8 academies and middle schools will be 8:30 a.m., and the start for high schools will be 9:30 a.m. Six release times have been announced: 1:40 p.m., 2:10 p.m., 2:40 p.m., 3:10 p.m., 3:40 p.m. and 4:10 p.m. The Board of Education said it will announce the impact on specific schools next month.
Greenbelt Schools
Though PGCPS projects minimal impact on most schools by these standardized bells, the changes in Greenbelt look significant. PGCPS reports that most schools (57 percent) should expect to shift 15 minutes or less, 33 percent are expected to see no change, seven percent should expect a shift of 16 to 30 minutes and only three percent should expect their times to change 31-60 minutes, they reported. All six of Greenbelt’s schools will see a change in time, ranging from 15 minutes to one hour and 45 minutes. PGCPS doesn’t mention the possibility of changes being greater than an hour, but for two Greenbelt elementary schools (Greenbelt Elementary and Magnolia Elementary) it will be.
Greenbelt Elementary
Greenbelt Elementary School’s (GES) morning bell is currently 9:15 a.m., with dismissal at 3:25 p.m. Next year’s standard elementary school start time of 7:30 a.m. will be an hour and 45 minutes earlier. While dismissal bells for each school have not been announced yet, the earliest time of 1:40 p.m. would maintain the current length of its school day.
Springhill Lake Elementary
Springhill Lake Elementary School currently begins at 7:45 a.m. and has dismissal at 1:55 p.m. This means its students will begin 15 minutes earlier next year with a starting time of 7:30 a.m. Individual schools’ dismissal bells are yet to be announced but to maintain their length of school day they will likely dismiss 15 minutes earlier at 1:40 p.m.
Magnolia Elementary
Like GES, Magnolia Elementary students will see a change of an hour and 45 minutes. Currently they begin their day at 9:15 a.m. and are dismissed at 3:25 p.m. They’ll have a new start time of 7:30 a.m. and a likely (but not yet announced) dismissal time of 1:40 p.m.
Dora Kennedy French Immersion
As a K-8 specialty school, Dora Kennedy French Immersion (DKFI) should expect to start their day 45 minutes earlier at 8:30 a.m. next year. Currently their school bells are at 9:15 a.m. and 3:55 p.m. To keep the length of the school day consistent they would expect their (yet-to-be-announced) dismissal time to be at 3:10 p.m.
Greenbelt Middle
Greenbelt Middle School (GMS) will see a 30-minute change in times. Currently they begin their day at 9 a.m. and end at 3:40 p.m. They should expect to begin their day at 8:30 a.m. next year. Though not yet announced, a dismissal time of 3:10 p.m. would maintain the same length of school day for them.
The new times would see DKFI and GMS with the same start and – likely – dismissals times. The two schools already share buses. (GMS moved to a new building on the same site in August 2012 and DKFI has been located in the former GMS building since 2014, so the two schools are adjacent to one another, though PGCPS plans to move DKFI in 2026.)
Eleanor Roosevelt High
Eleanor Roosevelt High School’s bell times will shift 45 minutes. Currently the school day runs from 8:45 a.m. to 3:25 p.m. They will start 45 minutes later next school year at 9:30 a.m. Their dismissal time has not yet been announced, but will likely be the latest of the six options, 4:10 p.m., to maintain the same number of hours in the school day.
The author has two children who are PGCPS students.