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The San Ramon Valley Unified School District has formed a new stakeholder committee and issued an online public survey as it explores the possibility of changing the district-wide instructional calendar as early as the 2016-17 school year.
The potential adjustment would include ending the first semester for middle and high schools before winter break in December and starting the second semester immediately after winter break — both of which would result in all schools starting the year earlier in August and wrapping up earlier in June or late-May.
SRVUSD superintendent Mary Shelton described the process as being “in the early stages of exploring a possible change to the instructional calendar.”
“It is important to note that this conversation is regarding the 2016-2017 school year calendar at the very earliest,” Shelton said. “This exploration is a collaborative process that includes a committee consisting of representatives from staff, parents and community members.”
As part of its initial research, the school district has released an online survey to gauge community reaction to the calendar change idea. The survey is set to close this Friday (Feb. 6).
“The survey is the first of many steps to gather feedback from the community over the next several months,” Shelton added. “We will continue to keep the community updated throughout this process.”
The current school year had all schools start on the final full week of August and schedules them to finish up on the second Thursday of June — the same time-frames featured in the calendar already approved for the 2015-16 school year. Under each schedule, the first semester ends on the fourth Friday in January, several weeks after winter break.
Middle schools and high schools are on a semester system while elementary schools are on a trimester system.
The potential shift “would have little impact on the winter break for elementary schools,” but for middle and high school students, it “would mean a winter break free from assignments and studying for pending exams,” SRVUSD spokeswoman Elizabeth Graswich said in a notice posted on the district website.
“Districts across the county are analyzing their respective calendars and considering what options may be available to maximize the instructional environment for students and staff,” she added.
Graswich said the district vowed to continue seeking citizen input and providing information publicly before any staff-recommended proposal were brought to the school board.
Among the various factors to be analyzed in the coming months are whether the employee unions would support the calendar change and how the change would effect the first summer break when transitioning from a traditional mid-June end date into an earlier August start date for the next school year.
The 2015-16 instructional calendar, approved by the school board in December, schedules all students to start school on Aug. 25 and wrap up the first semester on Jan. 22, 2016.
The second semester begins the following week, with the school year ending on a minimum day on June 9, 2016. Elementary schools have their first trimester end on Nov. 13 and complete their second trimester March 4, 2016.
Graswich said the district encourages anyone with questions about the calendar review process to contact CJ Cammack, assistant superintendent of human resources, at ccammack@srvusd.net or 552-2923.
This is the wrong direction to adjust the school calendar. Start school after Labor Day giving the kids a 4th week after winter break before finals (3 is already enough though). Starting it later means less absences from kids missing before Labor Day anyways and takes better advantage of the mild June temperatures rather than running up energy costs by opening schools in the hottest month of the summer, August. Studying a little over winter break never hurt anyone in all these years and there is several weeks of school after break to study anyways without changing anything.
Such painful grammar.
You would have thought that, after all these many years of teaching/educational administration, the most ideal School Year schedule FOR THE STUDENTS would have already been figured out and put in place.
How many times does the wheel need to be re-invented……and at the Taxpayer’s expense!?!
Having said that, I’m in favor of a Winter Break (inclusive of Christmas and New Year’s) that is free from school assignments and later tests.. (Unless they involve preparatory assignments for the new semester, such as pre-reading assignments getting ready for the new semester.)
Grammar aside I have been saying the same thing as the first poster; it is insane to have kids in school at peak summer heat. This is true in Danville, and it holds for many parts of the lower 48. Then again, when have school district bureaucrats ever listened to anyone?
I’m all for the adjustment. We need to align with other tri-valley school districts so our kids can vacation during spring break and other days off with families and freinds from around the tri-valley. San Ramon kids miss out on all kinds of opportunities for travel, community service, arts etc because we are one week out of sync with other tri-valley school districts. San Ramon is a one-off. And for those parents who are concerned about having school for an extra 5 days during the heat, REALLY?! You must have drank the California Kool Aid and become pansies. You are obviously thinking in terms of yourselves and what you have come to believe as “hot” and not thinking about kids. To kids there is no such thing as hot weather in California. I’m over 50 and have lived here since 5th grade. I haven’t lost sight of what truly hot weather is elsewhere in our wonderful country.
I think we should really be paying attention to this calendar Idea. I don’t think it will lessen the work load in high school honors and AP classes, yet it will affect a whole school district. I work in Pleasanton and you should of seen the mess this Idea caused there only to revert back to a traditional calendar. Where is the data to support this kind of change? How will it really look? What are the options?
This notion will be revisited and revisited until school employees get the calendar changed.
Nobody likes change, but personally I think having finals before a long break will benefit the kids. If this does pass, we will all survive and get used to it. Kids nowadays have way too much stress. Anyway we can help them, we should.
So it’s true. Suburban kids really don’t have Summer jobs.
This is a ridiculous idea and has a major impact on family summer vacations, activities and jobs. These teach kids valuable life skills that they don’t learn in school and allows families to reconnect and enjoy time together during the best weather of the year. School should start after Labor Day as it did for decades before school districts decided to shorten the summer to allow more time for holidays and teacher work days during the school year. We may start before Labor Day now, but I’ve noticed that the kids and parents don’t really take school seriously until after Labor Day and there’s no reason to add more time to that. If the timing of finals has become a problem, you can either switch to a trimester system that allows the first trimester to end before winter break as it does in the elementary schools and at so many of our California universities or push finals back by another week by starting after Labor Day as suggested by another poster. The trimester system also doesn’t cram as much material into kids and allows them to fully digest and apply it. Let families enjoy their summers as we did growing up and don’t take them away.
I think we should actually explore the year round school which would mean three weeks off at winter, and two weeks for October and two weeks for Spring Break. Kids retain more information over the summer if it isn’t such a long break.
There should be a way to EDIT/CHANGE your own Survey responses. But it is not possible to get back in.
Although I am not supportive of the idea of having any homework or test studying obligations during a vacation break, such as Winter Break, this is not the same as requiring that the Semester end before the Winter Break.
If there is significant amount of school time after the Winter Break–and no tests occurring directly after the Break–then I would be supportive of the Semester continuing after the Break.
Additionally, I am supportive of the idea of school starting AFTER the Labor Day holiday (after August). There is a lot of good weather for meaningful family vacations and camping during August.
I also think that some of the sports programs, such as T-Birds, should start after August and coincide with the school season as they interfere with family vacations as well.
Parents (and students) bear the burden of making vacations breaks become meaningful, productive times. The important thing is to be able to know what time to plan for. (Imagine buying a Timeshare location in August for family vacations, then having your School District decide to keep shifting the school start time.)
Quit re-inventing the wheel. And make it “round” already!
Thank God that when this might happen that my youngest student with be a senior, and then we will be done with this terrible school district and its lackeys.
To Terrible Idea: this idea does NOT say “no summer vacation”. #1 you can easily find activities and jobs that fit within this time frame. #2 you haven’t paid for any 2016 summer vacations yet and will have plenty of time to make the appropriate plans. #3 family time is important during every month/week/day so enjoy every second you get!
I hope families take a look down the road because changing the calendar is a terrible idea for anyone with a high school junior or senior. They have enough pressure as it is, but to move finals to before the winter break would unnecessarily add to their stress. Juniors need finals after winter break because many of them are studying for the SAT or ACT before the break. In the spring, because don’t forget that the spring finals will move up as well, they will be faced with taking the AP exams, SAT subject tests and finals all in the month of May.
Seniors will have all that and even worse. Moving finals earlier puts them right on top of college application season, which are due January 1 for many schools. December is also the last month they can take an ACT or SAT for college consideration and, it is also their last chance to boost their GPAs.
To put finals on top of everything else juniors and seniors have to deal with simply makes no sense. And, to the argument that “everyone else” is doing it, I am grateful to the poster who informed us that one of those “everyone else” districts (Pleasanton) actually went back to its old schedule. That speaks volumes.
To a Bad Idea:
#1 SAT and ACT are offered several times a year. SAT is offered in October, November, December, January, March, May and June. http://sat.collegeboard.org
#2 Colleges have different deadlines, not just January.
The real question is whether anyone at the SRV school district will actually pay attention to the survey results. They often pretend to care just to pay lip service, then they do what they damn well want. Because they are all-knowing and all-seeing, so much smarter than the rest of us. There ought to a be a way to let every SRVUSD parent vote on this, with the vote being binding.
This is.. horrible! My kids will start to complain soon!
August is a time for swim meets, family vacations, outdoor activities for the kids, etc. Let’s go back to schools not starting until the day after labor day!
I don’t believe it! Instead of thinking to move the first day of school at the beginning of September (after Labor Day), our district is trying to start school in the middle of the summer! August IS the hottest month of the year! Please give our children the opportunity to spend the summer in the pool, not in school!
Terrible idea. I agree with PleaseNo!
Do the Survey (such as it is)!
They won’t read comments here.
I did the survey.
Dear Mrs. Shelton,
I am very concerned about the possible calendar change next school year and it’s driving my whole school Gale Ranch nuts. I am firmly requesting, demanding, insisting to not change the calendar so we don’t have to start school earlier in August and me and my friends can go out of town and go hang out at the swimming pool. My whole school’s only other compromise is to have a shorter first semester and a longer second semester so it won’t impact the start and end dates. Can you please let the school board know about this at the next school board meeting and please have them change back the calendar and approve it. My whole school, Gale Ranch, including me, is signing this petition so the district will not change the calendar next school year. Have an outstanding day!
Love, William Dong