What Do You Think About These School Calendar Options for 2024-2025?
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Jennifer Shiao’s School Committee Blog
Editor’s note: . Jennifer Shiao is a member of the Amherst School Committee. Her original posts can be found here. An archive of her blog posts in The Indy can be found here.
At the January 23 meeting of the Regional School Committee, we got our first look at the proposed calendars for the 2024-25 school year.
Below is a summary of the highlights of the two proposals*, alongside the current calendar for comparison. (I suggest that you get out or open up a calendar, so that you can see the days of the week of these dates.)
| Current 23-24 (Labor Day Sep 3) | 24-25 Option #2 (Labor Day Sep 2) | 24-25 Option #3 (Labor Day Sep 2) | |
| First day of school (grades 1-12) | Aug 30 | Aug 26 | Aug 28 |
| First day of school (preK and K) | Sep 5 | Aug 28 | Sep 3 |
| Winter break | Dec 23-Jan 1 | Dec 23-Jan 6 | Dec 23-Jan 1 |
| Last day of school (depending on snow days) | Jun 14-24 | Jun 17-25 | Jun 17-25 |
My initial thought is that Option #2 looks appealing because of the extra long winter break, which has Three King Days (Jan 6) tacked on at the end (starting Monday December 23, returning Tuesday January 7). That said, I’m concerned that families with child care needs would find it difficult to have kids out of school for an extra long time.
* Option #1, with a start date after Labor Day, was not considered feasible because it would push the potential last day of school (with five snow days) to July 1, which is prohibited by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. (Proposing a start date after Labor Day is required in our contract with the APEA, the union representing educators, paraeducators, and clerical staff.)
We will likely be choosing a calendar and voting on it at our February 6 meeting. Please share your perspective and input. Which schedule do you and your family prefer? Here are options for sending your input:
- Email me at shiaoj@arps.org
- Email the entire Regional School Committee at RegionalSchoolCommittee@aprs.org
If you would like your comment included as public comment, send it to SCPublicComment@arps.org with “Public Comment” in the subject field.
This blog reflects my own views about the Amherst and Amherst-Pelham Regional School Committees – it does not represent the view of the committees, the district, or the superintendent. This blog complies with Open Meeting Law, as long as a quorum of School Committee members do not engage in deliberations in the comments. Comments are welcome. I may respond to comments, but I will not respond to all comments. Sign up here using the “follow blog via email” form to be notified when I post a new entry. You can email me at jennifer@jenniferamherst.org.