Q & A on the 2024-2025 Academic Calendar
The proposed 2024-2025 Academic Calendar is the agreed-upon result of many discussions and negotiations over the past two years between school district and building administrators, teachers, staff, the school board and others about what’s best for both families and staff. This calendar is our best attempt to balance everyone’s preferences. The following Q & A attempts to address some of the questions we’ve been hearing about the proposal.
Q: Why is school starting on Friday, Aug. 23, 2024?
A: That is the first date allowed by state law. Should lawmakers revise this law, we will revisit this start date.
Q: Why is there a 3-hour early out on the first day of school?
A: This is something we ended up doing in the current school year that was well-received. Many people seemed to like a “soft start” to school, to allow students and staff to get used to coming back after the summer.
Q: Why can’t we just push the start date to Monday, Aug. 26, 2024?
A: If we start the school year later, then the school year will extend into June. Already, the last day of school is May 30 and June 2-6 has been set aside for potential snow make-up days. In addition, starting the school year with a five-day week can be difficult on both students and staff. Having an afternoon to work, as well as a weekend between the first day and the first full week, gives teachers a chance to make adjustments to classrooms and plans as needed.
Q: Why are we starting school on Friday, Jan. 3 after winter break?
A: It worked out well this year for teachers to come back from winter break on Jan. 2 for a professional development day, and for students to have that extra day off before returning Jan. 3. It just so happens that next year, Jan. 3, 2025 falls on a Friday.
Q: I’ve seen several suggestions for ways to eliminate those Friday school start dates in August and January. Why can’t this be done?
A: The proposed 2024-25 Academic Calendar is the agreed-upon result of many discussions and negotiations over the past two years between school district and building administrators, teachers, staff, the school board and others about what’s best for both families and staff. This calendar is our best attempt to balance everyone’s preferences.
Q: How many hours or days are students required to be in school?
A: State law requires students to be in school for a minimum of 1,080 instructional hours each year. Under the proposed 2024-2025 Academic Calendar, Johnston will exceed that by 36 hours (about 5 1/2 days). JCSD believes that our students deserve better than the bare minimum. When snow days and other unplanned days off occur, that could cause the school district to need to make up those days at the end of the school year. During the current school year, there have been FOUR unplanned days off from school due to extreme weather. The school board will decide after the winter season whether to make up some or all of those days in the first week of June.
Q: Why are there so many full-day professional development days, when students are off from school?
A: The Johnston Community School District values professional development for our staff. Professional development provides ongoing opportunities for educators to strengthen their knowledge and skills, and improve instructional practices to support student achievement. In collaboration with our staff, it was decided in advance of the current 2023-2024 school year to eliminate early-out Wednesdays and instead have full-day professional development days spread throughout the year. Some teachers advocated for the change, saying they would get more benefit from full-day professional development days, instead of one hour after school each Wednesday. This also provides additional three-day weekends for families. The district’s KTC child care program is expected to be available on these days for families who register in advance.
Q: Why are there two “break” days on the 2024-2025 Academic Calendar, on Oct. 14 and April 25?
A: These were also developed in collaboration with our staff for the current school year, and will continue in the 2024-2025 school year. It was felt that there were times during the school year that staff and student mental health suffered, and these days off helped to give everyone a much-needed break.
Q: What was changed from the current school year?
A: There was an oversight this year in scheduling fall 2023 parent-teacher conferences on the same day as Election Day. For the 2024-2025 school year, fall conferences were pushed back one week to avoid a conflict with the November 5, 2024 General Election.
