Ever wonder why there always seems to be so many kids running around on what you thought was a normal old school day? Well, the answer is simple – maybe what you thought was a normal old school day really isn’t.
Thanks to state requirements and the needs of students and parents, school calendars are now littered with professional development days, work days, conference days, contract days and holidays. These many ‘specialty? days are why a 180-day school year is stretched over just a little less than 10 months.
For Oxford Area Community Schools, the year is actually 182 days long – beginning just before Labor Day and ending during the second week of June – and the specialty days are all throughout.
‘We more than meet the state requirements in days and hours,? said Curriculum Director Karen Eckert, ‘and we have days built in for emergencies, but the teachers need to have the time beyond that to meet together, to plan together, to learn together and to work together.?
In Oxford, students most often get time off because of professional development days, called ‘PDS Days.? Professional development is a mandated state requirement for teachers. According to Section 1527 of the Michigan School Code, schools must provide teachers with five days of professional development. Those days can be broken up throughout the year and even down by the hour.
Professional development can take several different forms such as reviewing new learning and teaching methods, reviewing curriculum change, looking at test results, listening to special presenters or creating local programs.
‘A whole variety of topics related to student learning can be covered during these times,? said Eckert.
Oxford teachers receive a minimum of 30-hours a year of professional development. High school and middle school teachers meet for about 2 to 2 ? hours every other Wednesday, for a total of 15 times a year. Middle and high school students go in late on these days. Elementary teachers meet for three hours during eight half days. There is also one day of district wide professional development.
‘Teachers are working even when they are not in front of the kids,? said Eckert. ‘I think its easy to forget the extensive level of preparation required for teachers to stand in front of a classroom.?
Breaking up the five-day time requirement allows the teachers to cover more topics, provide more productive work periods by focusing on only one or two topics, and allows the district to still meet the days in session requirement without extending the school year.
‘A full day is a lot to have to absorb and deal with, so we try to avoid this when possible,? explained Eckert. ‘Sometimes that can’t be done though.?
Another time given off to students is the teacher work days at the end of semesters or grading periods. These days give teachers and administrators a chance to review tests, calculate grades and prepare report cards or reports. This is also the time where teachers can work on disputed grades or assignments with students.
Parent-teacher conferences and contracted days off also take students out of school buildings. In order to accommodate parents, Oxford schools offers parent-teacher conferences during half days and in the evenings. This means the teachers in the district have worked two consecutive days and evenings, often as much as 14 or 15 hours a day. Contractually, the teachers are then given the Friday after conferences off.
‘Sometimes we try to reduce the number of half days by combining things into whole days,? said Eckert. ‘So in October, we have one day that’s half conferences and the other half is professional development. The day after that is their contracted day off.?
Of course most individuals understanding holiday breaks; however, who decided that schools should be closed for around two weeks during the Christmas and New Year season? According to Eckert, schools determined that many years ago.
‘We basically look at the calendar and set the time off based upon where the holiday falls,? she said. ‘I’m not sure why we start before Labor Day. Schools have being doing that here for 10 to 15 years now.?
‘Besides, we would be pushing into the third week of June with the extended school year if we moved the start, and I think by the middle of June most kids and families are ready for the school year to be over.?
The only extended holiday time mandated by the state is the Friday before Labor Day. Due to the high levels of tourism during this time, Michigan saw a need to keep kids home and the money flowing throughout the weekend.
So, the next time you see a group of students around town or in the park on a normal school day, remember, that school day may not be ‘normal? on the Oxford Schools calendar.