Longer days, but fewer days overall - Sun West School Division to test new calendar

EAGLE STAFF

Some Sun West students could go to school for about 25 minutes longer each day next year but attend less often.

The division is conducting a two-year pilot project on the “alternative school calendar,” starting in September.

“Participation is optional and decided locally,” a Sun West statement said.
“This pilot will give interested schools an opportunity to try a new approach to the school calendar while maintaining instructional hours and meeting all provincial requirements,” Darryl Seguin, the division’s education director, said in the statement.

“Input from the parents, school community councils, staff and students whose schools take part in the alternate calendar will play an important role in determining if this model is the right approach for their school community,” Seguin said.
Students’ total instructional time will meet or exceed provincial requirements, while the “curriculum, learning expectations and assessment practices remain unchanged,” the statement said.
Division officials hope to gauge whether the alternative calendar reduces student absenteeism, increases flexibility for families and staff, helps recruit and retain teachers, maintains high-quality learning and provides “increased and meaningful professional development opportunities for staff,” the statement said.

To join, a school principal and its school community council must both agree to take part and parents and guardians of the school’s students must vote at least 70 per cent in favour, at one vote per “registered family,” the statement said.

Between March 1 and April 15, schools can express interest, receive division decisions, submit survey results showing at least 70 per cent parent approval and get notified, “pending board and ministry approval,” the statement said.