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School to Community Connection |
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Issue 71
Changes in the School Calendar There is a new student school calendar for the Healdsburg Unified School District. Summer vacation was reduced by a week and we started school two weeks before Labor Day, the traditional time when students return to school. What were district officials thinking when they changed the calendar for this school year? Why is school starting so early? Why do we have a week off in February?
Parents and students throughout Healdsburg have asked all of these questions. Last year the district analyzed student absences over a two-year period. Our goal is to reduce students' absences that are not medical or family emergencies. This school year we have set a target to increase student average daily attendance by 1%, thereby increasing our general fund budget by $100,000.
The traditional school calendar that has been in existence for several decades was designed around the agricultural industry. Families and children worked during the season of high productivity for produce/fruit production; therefore, school was not in session. This period has dramatically changed and no longer applies to today's school-year calendar.
The district has worked collaboratively with the teachers’ association to develop a two-year plan for our school calendar, with a goal to have Healdsburg’s student attendance calendar accommodate the majority of our families and have focused, prime educational time. This two-year plan is being developed for several reasons:
• Many families extend the February Presidents’ holidays past the three-day weekends. When families lengthen their vacation time, students are absent from class (es).
• There is a normal "flu" period during the wintertime, thus students are absent due to illness.
•Many of our Hispanic families travel to Mexico during the winter break for an extended period, thus students lose instructional time.
•In looking at the 2005-06-school calendar, the possibility of completing first semester prior to winter break is being strongly considered. This would cause school to begin a week earlier than this year, but would allow secondary students to complete the first 85-90 school days and final exams by the December break. Then, we will have a three-week winter break before beginning second semester. This is much more educationally sound and a benefit to both students and parents.
When to take your vacations this year This year's school calendar has several opportunities for families to take vacations, plan extended medical appointments, and arrange events that normally take children out of school. The district asks families to please work with the school personnel to reduce student absences and to meet our goal of increasing student attendance by at least 1%. Here is the non-school time for you to plan these activities. November 11-12, 2004 Veterans' Day and Local Holiday November 25-26, 2004 Thanksgiving Vacation December 20-31, 2004 Winter Break January 17, 2005 Martin Luther King Day January 21, 2005 Teacher Work Day (no students) February 14-21, 2005 February Break March 28-April 1,2005 Spring Break May 27-30, 2005 FFA Fair & Memorial Day
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