It's finally beginning to look more like spring. I know I'm ready for it. With all the weather we've had this year, we've pushed back the last day of school significantly. At this time, the last day for students will be on May 29th. Hopefully, we're done with the bad weather, but I've heard fog can be an issue here in New Hampton. As this year winds down, we've been working to finalize next year's calendar. Here is the draft copy we're working on. There are a couple of things I would like to point out.
First, please notice next year's start date of August 15th. That coincides with this year's start date of August 16th. The district starts at that time, in order to allow our semester to end before Christmas Break. This is an advantage as it more closely aligns our high school program with that of NICC. This allows our students who take college classes to avoid conflicts and schedule problems. This will become more important as we continue to add college class opportunities for our students during the day. In addition, our students take finals before break while the material is still fresh in their minds. It also provides ample time to end school before June. A lot of families plan vacations and trip in early June and generally this will keep us from having school during this time. Finally, since we end before break, it also keeps both semesters nearly even in length.
The second thing I would like you to notice is the one hour early out that takes place nearly every Wednesday. The district is working on improving our schools by focusing on a few important areas. The big areas are effectively implementing technology in teacher's classrooms, making sure our curriculum is aligned with the Iowa Core Curriculum, and working to improve reading and math instruction in the district. In order to make meaningful changes in these areas our teachers need time to learn and collaborate with each other. Currently, we have approximately one two-hour late start each month for Professional Development. Unfortunately, doing something only once a month does not work the best. Teachers need time to try things in their classrooms and then they need time to get together to evaluate how did it went, what can I do better next time, what else do I need to learn? These weekly one hour sessions will allow that regular time for teachers to collaborate to improve learning in our district. I'm sure you have some concerns about this.
First, I know this will create some daycare concerns for some of our younger students and I don't have an easy answer to this. I'm hoping with the regular planning of these days it will make this easier. I also know there are concerns about what older students will do between dismissal and the time athletic practices start. At the high school, I have confidence the students will find something to do and be back in time for practice. At the 7th and 8th grade level, we plan to have some para-educators available to provide a study table or other activities for students until their practices begin. Dr. Updegraff has also talked about providing a study table during this time at the high school for students who are failing classes. The other concern that comes to mind is will this infringe on instructional time in the classroom. The answer to that is a foggy no. First, the Iowa legislature is currently looking at legislation that will define a school year as 1,080 hours of instruction. That means 1,080 hours of classroom time exclusive of Professional Development time and late starts for weather. That is the time we are scheduled for this school year, but with the weather related late starts and early dismissals we will be a little short. With the legislation currently being proposed, we would have to make up every two hour late start for weather and we cannot count these one hour early outs as school time. So, we should see a little more or certainly no less instructional time with this new calendar.
Finally, your feedback is important to the school board and myself. In order to facilitate that process, I have created the feedback form below for your convenience. This is a perfect opportunity for your voice to be heard in this calendar process. Thanks for taking the time to be involved at New Hampton Community Schools.
