The Starkville-Oktibbeha Consolidated School District will officially use a modified calendar starting in the 2022-23 school year.
The SOCSD board of trustees unanimously approved the proposed schedule, which contains a shorter summer break but longer breaks during the fall, winter and spring.
School will begin on July 26, about a week earlier than usual, Superintendent Eddie Peasant said, and ending June 1. The extended breaks will be Oct. 3-14, Dec. 22 through Jan. 4 and March 13-24, while summer break officially begins June 2. The new school calendar still includes 180 school days for students and 187 for teachers, just like the traditional one.
“This proposed calendar has us starting school about a week earlier than we normally do and going to school a week later than we normally do,” Peasant said. “It also has about a week and a half of intersession days in October and then a week of intersession in March.”
This decision comes after nearly a year of discussion to make this move. The district kept a traditional schedule for the 2021-22 academic year, but Peasant said in March he planned for SOCSD to move forward with the new schedule the following year.
Administration worked with several groups in the community such as stakeholders, parent and teacher groups, child care facilities and businesses and representatives from Mississippi State University to create the most efficient and enhanced schedule for the upcoming school year.
Every month, except for the month of August, has at least one day off for breaks or holidays, including Presidents Day and Juneteenth (which occurs amid summer break) as holidays for the first time. Peasant said all breaks are in compliance with those of MSU’s 2022-23 school year as well.
Along with break changes, the modified calendar will offer intersession courses to interested students. These courses range from culinary arts to robotics to aviation, allowing students the opportunity to learn skills that are not necessarily taught in the classroom. The intersessions will also contain ACT prep and AP course bootcamps.
“This will give students who would like to learn things that are maybe not in our curriculum to enhance their learning, things that may not fit in the schedule in the everyday school day,” Peasant said. “They will now have the opportunity for additional learning opportunities, enrichment and enhanced learning during these times. Our goal and hope is that it will align with what they are learning in the classroom but give them some additional enriched learning in those areas.”
Intersessions will only be half-days with breakfast and lunch served, and child care will be provided in the afternoons to elementary students.
The extended breaks also give students who are struggling in courses throughout the school year the ability to catch up on particular areas. Instead of using summer as the time to retake courses, students can now use intersessions as a way to improve their studies, giving them the opportunity to be prepared for each nine-week period.
“This is (students’) opportunity to get caught up and be prepared for the next nine-week period where they are not continuing to add on struggling and not meeting standards throughout the year,” Peasant said. “Our goal is to replace summer school with working with students throughout the year in the intercession.”
Peasant said some concerns about the modified calendar included inadequate time for AP students to prepare for course exams and students wanting to take college courses beginning in June. After some adjustments, Peasant said he believes these concerns are handled.
“This will allow AP teachers to have an AP boot camp during that March intersession,” Peasant said. “That’s something the teacher’s have talked about that they want to address.”
Sporting events and practices, along with other extracurricular activities, will continue throughout the extended breaks. Peasant said practices, meetings and rehearsals will be up to the discretion of each coach or teacher.
“We always have a football game when we’re out for fall break,” Peasant said. “We still play baseball when we’re out for spring break. We play basketball when we’re out for Christmas break. There’s nothing different there than what we normally do when we’re out of school.”
Board president Sumner Davis said he believes this calendar will positively help students in the school district. He said he is excited to go in this new direction and knows SOCSD is going to see the benefits during the upcoming school year.
“Dr. Peasant and the central office staff have been working really hard on this,” Davis said. “It is an outgrowth of their continued efforts to help our students have the best possible environment for learning to ensure success for all of our kids in the district.”
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