As the school year kicks off this week for families in the Shoreline Unified School District, students will notice some changes to their schedules. The sprawling coastal school district is joining an increasing number nationwide that have adopted a Wednesday early dismissal model, allowing time for teachers to collaborate and students to receive extracurricular enrichment. This year, Shoreline students from transitional kindergarten through sixth grade will be dismissed between 1 and 1:30 p.m., rather than the usual 3 p.m. West Marin and Inverness Schools will offer a variety of afterschool programs developed through community partnerships over the summer. The Point Reyes National Seashore Association will provide outdoor education classes, while the Dance Palace Community Center will offer dance, theater and art programs. In Place, a local nonprofit led by Taira Restar and Ken Otter, will blend nature and art in its offerings, and the Marin County Free Library will host small-group literacy sessions. Students will rotate through activities in eight-week blocks, ensuring a broad array of experiences, said Marianne Recher, a mother of two students. “We’ve always instinctively understood two things: first, that our community is rich with experts—retirees, artists, scientists and other individuals; and second, that we’re supported by strong nonprofits and agencies like PRNSA and others,” Ms. Recher said. The district hopes the early release experiment will tackle two problems at once. The first is teachers’ need for professional development days and time set aside to collaborate across the district. The second is the logistical challenge many parents face as they juggle jobs and childcare. Many families already scramble to fill the gap between typical school dismissal and the end of the workday, and adding two more hours to that gap could exacerbate the problem. Previously, Shoreline allocated only three professional development days each year. “We’ve recognized this need for many years,” said Superintendent Adam Jennings, who has been with the district in various capacities since 2012. Under the new schedule, teachers will convene every Wednesday from 1:45 to 3:45 p.m. to discuss a range of topics, from best practices for supporting English language learners to analyzing student performance data. In 2022-23, the most recent school year with available data, only 10 percent of Shoreline’s English learners met or exceeded the standard for math, while 17 percent met or exceeded the standard for English language arts. In contrast, 25 percent of Shoreline’s total student body met or exceeded the standard for math, and 40 percent did so for language arts. The new time on Wednesdays will allow educators to share strategies and insights. Thomas Tyson, a Shoreline board trustee who spoke to the Light as a parent, said the plan has been in development for nearly a year. An earlier version that proposed early dismissal without accompanying activities for students failed to gain approval by the board. “Initially, there was some pushback from parents who were unsure if programming would be available for their students,” said Marilu Cisneros, Shoreline’s Director of Community Schools. “But after we introduced the early release program, those concerns have largely disappeared.” Some parents had expressed concern about prioritizing the needs of teachers without considering the impact the change would have on their children. “We were determined to ensure our kids had somewhere to go after school,” Mr. Tyson said. Research shows that afterschool programs, especially high-quality ones, can help improve a child’s attendance, academics and other measures of well-being, including mental health. “Right now, we’re operating with a largely theoretical model,” Mr. Jennings said. “But we’re going to learn a ton from this and ultimately be more equipped to meet the needs of each and every student.”