Newark Public Schools officially announced the district’s new universal school schedule for the 2024-2025 academic year.

Tuesday was the first day and all Newark students K-12 will now be in school from 8:15 a.m. until 3:05 p.m. That works out to an extra 20 minutes for K-8 and an extra 25 minutes for high schoolers.

The universal schedule is part of the June agreement between Newark Public Schools and the Newark Teachers Union. Officials say it will offer several benefits for staff, students and their families like a unified schedule across all schools, more transition time between periods and a longer lunch break

Parents and students took the change in stride. News 12 spoke with a family who just moved from Florida.

"I feel good because actually in Florida I have to wake up at 6 a.m., so I get extra time to get ready get ready for the day I just feel way better I feel more awake,” 10th Grader Naleysa Benitez said.

Her mom Jahayra Velez is also for the change.

"It gives the students more time and maybe extra help and more time for them to interact with the kids, additional few minutes to recess time,” Velez said.

Another goal of the new times is to hopefully make up some of the lost instruction time from the pandemic and see better scores.

"It’s very easy for a student who might be looking at you through a screen not really paying attention or not getting the best benefit than that human contact having a teacher in front of you,” said Assistant Superintendent Rosa Branco.