Plainfield changes school-year schedule

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Updated: August 4, 2011 4:20PM

PLAINFIELD — Saying they have been waiting for this for a long time, Plainfield School Board approved the 2011-12 calendar Monday night that includes high school students taking their final exams before winter break.

In past years, students took final exams after they returned from winter break and teachers would spend a couple of days re-teaching lessons.

“I love this. The first semester — the tests are done — right before the Christmas break. Second semester starts up right after they get back. A lot of times they forget things while they are on Christmas break,” said board member Rod Westfall at a committee meeting on Feb. 23. “This is awesome. We have been fighting, fighting and fighting for this.”

The district is now looking at the value of final exams, the amount of finals given and the grading of finals, said Darlene von Behren, assistant superintendent of administration and personnel.

Another big calendar change is that school will start on Aug. 18 — four days earlier than last year and end before Memorial Day weekend. von Behren said. The district has not been able to do that in the past.

When the district built new schools, the start date was set later in August to provide additional time to open the building. Another factor was the cost to provide new teachers health insurance if they started on Aug. 15 or sooner. Now that there are fewer new teachers being hired, there should be less of a cost. Last year, the district paid $50,000, von Behren said.

Other changes include:

The district added one five-day week of instruction from 28 weeks this year to 29 weeks next year.

Assuming no snow days, the last day of class is May 25 The last day of school will be a half-day of school rather than a full day. This may be a plus for families who want a head start on Memorial Day weekend, said von Behren.

Parent-teacher conferences are two weeks earlier in the fall, which can help if there are issues parents and teachers need to discuss.

The first semester is done before winter break, and second semester starts upon the return from winter break. The last school day before winter break is Dec. 22.

Spring break will be pushed forward one week, April 2-6, instead of the last week in March.

To check out the next year’s calendar, go to www.psd202.org/Dist202/districtcalendar.php?p=1112.

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