Committee publishes draft 2008-09 school calendar for
public comment
The Cape Elizabeth school district's strategic plan includes an objective
which states that "the school calendar will be adjusted to meet the learning
and development needs of students and teachers". With this objective in mind,
the Calendar Committee, which includes representatives from the School Board,
administration and the schools, considered various calendar configurations.
The school calendar developed by the committee is one which the Committee
believes is more focused on student learning and educational outcomes, said
committee Chairman and School Board member Trish Brigham.
The proposed
calendar can be found on the school website.
Key features of the proposed calendar for the 2008-09 school year include:
-
Post Labor Day student start
-
Fewer early release days, particularly at the Middle School
-
Teacher Professional Days clustered around weekends and one additional
professional day added for teachers.
-
A Thanksgiving holiday break shortened to allow an extended December holiday
break
-
Accommodation of facility use to meet the requirements for the Presidential
elections
-
School schedule changes including a later start time for all three schools
and a combined bus run for Middle and High Schools
This last proposal is based on research and anecdotal experiences of school
districts who noted improvements in student performance when school start
times were pushed back. One particularly interesting and influential
article on this topic can be found at the following link. This article references
Edina MN which is a member of the Project Blueprint group of schools, along
with Cape Elizabeth:
http://nymag.com/news/features/38951/
Members of the public, school faculty, and students who have questions or
comments about the proposed calendar are invited to send them to Superintendent
Alan Hawkins at
alan_hawkins@cape.k12.me.us
or Trish Brigham, chairman of the Calendar Committee at
pbrigham@maine.rr.com.
The Calendar Committee will finalize its proposal for next year's calendar
by early April, so that it can be presented to the School Board for their
consideration at its April business meeting.
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