School Year Calendar Acalanes Union High School District Town Hall - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

School Year Calendar

Acalanes Union High School District Town Hall Meeting… November 29, 2017

School Year Calendar…Town Hall

Academic Calendar – Structure that shows the beginning and ending school dates, legal and local holidays, staff development days, teacher/staff work days, minimum days, quarter/semester dates, final exam periods, and other pertinent dates.

– Profound influence on student learning and the general student school experience. – Also…big influence on the family and community school experience.

Share your thoughts through dynamic polling…

To get to the system: Text the message AUHSD to 22333

Or

Go to PollEv.com/auhsd via browser

School Year Calendar…Town Hall

Post Town Hall Note: A series of polls were given to the audience to get a snapshot of the opinions, beliefs and experiences of those in the audience. The polls were not intended to be a “vote,” merely an action to get current opinions of audience members at that time as information for the Task Force. The first poll was primarily intended to engage audience members in the system, but also to reveal our own personal experiences. The polls from the two town hall meetings are combined and include 64 participants.

History…

• Challenge for Walamorinda - non-unified K-12 districts…
• The Acalanes Union High School District (AUHSD) has historically

established the academic calendar…K-8 partner district follow

• The AUHSD has made efforts to elicit input from K-8 partner districts

in recent years…

• AUHSD calendar adoption typically 1.5 years ahead of school year…

Historical calendar development drivers:

• Status Quo
• Traditions – Summer and vacation
• Federal, State & Local Holidays
• High School Semesters (2 relatively equal)
• 180 days

School Year Calendar…Town Hall

AUHSD Calendar History…

School Year Calendar…Town Hall

August 2007

• The AUHSD attempted to shift the calendar to

a mid-August start with the 1st semester ending before winter break

• The AUHSD teachers’ association (AEA),

administration, and student and parent leaders supported the change

• The AUHSD Governing Board did not approve

the change and recommended calendar

School Year Calendar…Town Hall

Current dialogue on the subject has surfaced…

Possible reason why?

• Dublin, Pleasanton, Piedmont, San Ramon Valley USDs recently

shifted their calendars to an earlier start with finals before winter vacation

• Other high performing – Los Gatos-Saratoga UHSD, Palo Alto USD,

Fremont Union HSD all have an earlier start with finals before winter vacation

How?

AUHSD Local Control & Accountability Plan (LCAP) Stakeholder Input:

• Significant interest expressed by parents:
• End 1st semester and finals prior to winter

break…mostly related to student “stress”

• Teaching staff interest expressed:
• Earlier start…1st semester prior to winter break and

more instruction prior to Advanced Placement Exams and a clean instructional break prior to Winter Break

School Year Calendar…Town Hall

AUHSD LCAP

Action Step pertaining to the school year calendar developed in response to input and to support two LCAP Goals.

“Examine school year calendar through stakeholder work groups”

LCAP Goals Supported:

Goal 3: Further develop and implement high quality programs and educational opportunities for students to attain college and career readiness (High quality programs) Goal 5: Provide safe, engaging and inclusive school sites and classrooms that address the social-emotional needs of all students (School climate and Social-emotional development)

School Year Calendar…Town Hall

Current 2017-2018 Calendar

School Year Calendar…Town Hall

Some interests for moving finals before winter break…

Support for student learning & achievement:

• Advanced Placement schedule (testing begins first Monday
• f May)
• Improved instructional months – December/January

Support for student wellness and mental health:

True break for students over winter break

School Year Calendar…Town Hall

Some interests for moving finals before winter break…

CIF/NCS shift in sports calendars

• With the majority of high schools in the State starting

school earlier than AUHSD and modification to section and State playoffs, there is a trend of the fall season commencing earlier.

• The North Coast Session approved start dates for sports for

2018-2019 through 2020-2021 are the following:

2018-2019 2019-2020 2020-2021 Football & Volleyball July 30 August 5 August 3 Other Sports August 13 August 19 August 17

School Year Calendar…Town Hall

Some opposition to moving finals before winter break…

‒ Concern regarding the shorter summer in at least the first year if the schedule were adjusted to allow for finals before winter break ‒ Concern that finals in December would be more stressful

• Consider concerts, college applications and holidays.

School Year Calendar…Town Hall

Some opposition to moving finals before winter break…

‒ Concern regarding a shift in summer break

• August/summer heat (including AC costs)
• Summer programs in August

(swim, camps, etc.)

‒ Concern that there could be an imbalance of semesters ‒ Concern regarding minimal K-8 benefits with modified/alternative calendar

School Year Calendar…Town Hall

LCAP Action Step: “Examine school year calendar through stakeholder work groups”

And work to develop recommendations to the Governing Board and the AUHSD-AEA negotiations regarding the 2019-2020 school year calendar.

Task Force Membership:

• AUHSD District staff, administration, parents and

students

• Partner K-8 District staff, administration and parents
• AUHSD & Partner K-8 District board member
• bservation

School Year Calendar…Town Hall

Calendar Task Force Purpose –

• Study all aspects of the school year calendar.

Examine our current calendar and alternatives in consideration of data and research.

• Prioritize communication efforts in order to

broaden the community conversation pertaining to the school year calendar.

• Present findings and/or make

recommendations to the Governing Board and other interested parties for consideration for the 2019-2020 calendar adoption.

School Year Calendar…Town Hall

Let’s hear from stakeholders…

School Year Calendar…Town Hall

Post Town Hall Note: A group of students from the four high schools, some from the Calendar Task Force and some identified by the school Leadership Classes, participated in the panel. Acalanes and Las Lomas students participated on 11/27 and Miramonte and Campolindo students participated on 11/29. A parent or two from the Calendar Task Force also participated in the panel.

School Year Calendar

What are your current thoughts…

Post Town Hall Note: The following polls were given to the audience to get an opinion snapshot of those in the

• audience. The polls were not intended to be a

“vote,” merely an action to get current opinions

• f audience members at that time as

information for the Task Force. The poll results from the two town hall meetings are combined and include results from 64 participants.

Sample 2019-2020 AUHSD calendar

School Year Calendar…Town Hall

Post Town Hall Note: The following slides contain six possible calendars for 2019-2020. These sample calendars are not proposals, have not been recommended by the Task Force, and have not been reviewed by any school boards. They are merely for demonstration purposes…to give the audience experience with some different types of calendars and have an opportunity to consider pros/cons. Starting/Ending dates and major breaks were reviewed in each. The more subtle features of a calendar (day of the week to start/end, placement of teacher work and professional development days, etc.) were not emphasized

• r stronglyl considered in these sample calendars.

Following review of the calendars and brief explanation of each, the audience was polled on their preference. Again, this was not intended to be a “vote,” but merely an action to elicit current opinion of the audience members.

Sample 2019-2020 AUHSD calendar – no changes (leap summer)

School Year Calendar…Town Hall

Sample 2019-2020 AUHSD calendar – finals before winter break

School Year Calendar…Town Hall

Sample 2019-2020 AUHSD calendar – start after Labor Day

School Year Calendar…Town Hall

Sample 2019-2020 AUHSD calendar – Finals before Winter+OctBr

School Year Calendar…Town Hall

Sample 2019-2020 AUHSD calendar–Finals before Winter+PresBk

School Year Calendar…Town Hall

Sample 2019-2020 AUHSD calendar–Finals before Winter+SpringX2

School Year Calendar…Town Hall

Questions and Input? School Year Calendar…Town Hall