Help Us Develop Future School Year Calendars
Posted onHelp us develop future school year calendars and share your thoughts about when days off are scheduled and innovative ways to find efficiencies!
Creating a School Division Calendar is a complex and challenging task. We consider student, staff, and parent voices as we build a calendar that works for all stakeholders while meeting the required conditions outlined by Alberta Education, including:
- Instructional time must meet or exceed Alberta Education’s requirements as outlined in the Guide to Education.
- The calendar must adhere to the fixed diploma and achievement examination dates set by Alberta Education.
- The calendar must include the set Alberta Teachers' Association Convention dates (February).
- The calendar cannot exceed 200 teacher days.
In addition, to operate effectively and enable LRSD to achieve our goals, the calendar must have:
- A minimum of one divisionally-based professional development day.
- A minimum of one divisional inter-school collaboration day.
- A fixed Christmas break including non-instructional days from December 24 to January 2.
- A sufficient number of professional development days for staff planning, collaboration, and in-service activities.
Consider the following ideas about how a divisional school calendar might look:
- Students starting class before or after Labour Day
- Non-student days on Fridays/Mondays to extend the weekend or mid-week instead
- A set Fall Break week or more frequent four-day weeks
- Students in class leading up to Christmas break to allow more time off after Christmas or more time off before Christmas
- Full week off for students during Family Day week in February or spread those extra days out during the winter/spring
- 4-day weeks for students for potential cost-savings and allowing more time at home or more options for part-time jobs for older students
- Spring Break that aligns with Easter or a set week each year