Well, it has almost been a year with new school calendar we’ve adopted. Now it is time to reflect on the successes and struggles of the modified calendar.
We think that the 2016-17 calendar worked well, but needed to have a few snow days pre-placed into our calendar and not just placed at the end. After all, it is Minnesota and we do get freak blizzards from time to time. We know that has already been fixed for the upcoming school year, but it was still a main problem for this year.
One snow day, Feb. 19, has been implemented into next year’s calendar. Flexible learning days- online assignments during snow days- will also exist for next year if more than one snow day occurs so that class time is not lost. Not all students have easy access to internet, which could be a possible issue of going with flexible learning. We are optimistic about the ability of flexible learning to be a solution that balances both safety and learning.
The days added on to the “end” of this school year can be a problem for students who made vacation plans on those three days that were added on; so now they have to find the time to take all their finals and miss the last days of school.
Another disadvantage to this new calendar is that students in spring sports have to keep coming to practice after school ends because they still have upcoming games or meets. This can be a problem for student athletes who need to find transportation, as well as, if they were hoping to start their summer jobs or pick up more hours right after school ends.
While some things have not been so good about this year’s calendar, it’s also been successful. Breaks are the same length and come after finals.
We still have the same amount of student-contact days and the school has air conditioning to accommodate for hot and humid August so starting school earlier is slightly more bearable.
Even though the modified calendar has worked well, it needs a two-year trial run to see if it’s really the best to go with for the students and teachers in our town.
We encourage everyone to keep a positive mind set about these changes and understand that the administration is doing their best to make sure our calendar is beneficial for everyone.
In addition, anyone that would like their opinions voiced should make an effort to attend the school board meetings that are held monthly throughout the school year.