Bend-La Pine Schools revise calendar to make up lost days
Bend-La Pine Schools Superintendent Shay Mikalson announced changes to the 2016-17 school year calendar Wednesday to make up several days lost to this winter’s snowstorms.
Here’s the rest pf the school district’s announcement, in full.
“After meeting with the state Deputy Superintendent of Public Instruction, hearing from local families and meeting with employee group leaders, we have developed a revised school calendar that recovers valuable student instructional time without further extending the end of the school year,” Mikalson said.
“With the extension of several school days in March, which were originally slated as School Improvement Wednesdays (SIW), and the elimination of some traditional conference time in exchange for more flexible communication with parents this spring, we are able to recover several days of lost classroom time for students.”
Mikalson said that these additions, coupled with the four days that had previously been added to the end of the school year, will allow students to recoup at least six lost instructional days.
The new calendar changes include the following:
MARCH
Wednesday, March 8
Full school day, instead of SIW schedule
Wednesday, March 15
Full school day, instead of SIW schedule
Wednesday, March 22
Full school day, instead of SIW schedule
APRIL
Wednesday, April 5
SIW schedule resumes, no 11:45 a.m. release for elementary students
Thursday, April 13
Full school day, previously a conference day for middle and elementary students
Friday, April 14
Full school day for middle and high school students
No school for elementary schools, Three Rivers School and Westside Village students
JUNE
Friday, June 16
Full school day
Monday, June 19
Full school day
Tuesday, June 20
Full school day
Wednesday, June 21
Full school day
Thursday, June 22
Students released on SIW schedule
“The addition of extended days prior to spring break, rather than waiting until the end of the year, will give our students additional time with their teachers and better prepare those taking Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and state tests in the spring,” said Mikalson.
Mikalson added that eliminating or reducing parent-teacher conference time in lieu of added school days should not preclude open dialogue between families and their students’ teachers.
“Teachers will be communicating with parents and guardians about student progress around mid-April,” he said. “As always, we encourage families to contact teachers at any time to check their student progress; communication is not limited to just conference time.”
The 2016-17 school calendar changes come after extreme accumulations of snow in the Bend, La Pine and Sunriver areas prompted district officials to close schools for several days in January to allow for significant snow removal from school roofs and building assessments by structural engineers.
Mikalson said that he hopes this will be the last calendar change for the 2016-17 school year, but that unforeseen events could result in additional changes. That said, he assured families that the school year will not extend past June 22 and that spring break will not be shortened.
A summary of the changes at a glance and a downloadable version of the revised 2016-17 School Calendar are available at www.bend.k12.or.us/201617revisedcalendar
Download copies of the revised calendar:
2016-17 Bend-Area, Three Rivers, Rosland, La Pine Elementary
