Edmonton Public Schools will start gauging public support for a weeklong fall break if school trustees approve a board colleague’s proposal this week.
School trustee Ken Shipka plans to float the idea at a board meeting Tuesday evening for a modified school calendar that would cut summer vacation a few days short in favour of a one-week break in November. Shipka wants administrators to gather feedback from staff, parents and the community before the board approves the traditional school calendar for 2012-13.
“We have a spring break, usually in March, so it seemed to me, why not have a fall break? That would be a good way for students to catch up and give a break to the teachers who might otherwise find that they’re starting to get a little taxed by then,” Shipka said.
“We want to hear what the reception is to that idea. If 80 per cent of the public or staff are against that then we won’t proceed with it, but if we find the majority or a large number would like to try that then our board will deliberate on that.”
The proposed calendar adjustment would only shorten Edmonton public school students’ summer vacation by a few days to establish a fall break the week of Remembrance Day, Shipka said.
The number of instructional days would remain the same.
The trend toward modified calendars as well as year-round schooling, which shortens the summer break by several weeks, has been increasing with evidence that students perform better with more frequent breaks. There is evidence alternative calendars can boost student achievement and behaviour, reduce stress and burnout among students and teachers and even allow teachers, students and their families to book of off-season vacations at cheaper rates, according to a 2005 report on the Alberta Education website.
“Alberta schools have consistently found that the level of parental support for the year-round calendar increases over time,” the report noted.
Modified calendars and year-round schooling have been more popular in Calgary than here. About 20 public schools there operate on a modified calendar and seven Catholic schools offer year-round schooling.
Students with Elk Island Public Schools, just outside of Edmonton, have a modified calendar that provides a fall break in November.
Inside Edmonton, two Catholic schools – Mother Teresa elementary school and St. Alphonsus elementary and junior high school – start year-round schooling this fall. Students at those two schools return to class Aug. 8 but get two weeks off in the middle of October and an extra week for spring break.
Last fall, St. Catherine elementary and junior high school was the Catholic district’s first school to move to a year-round calendar, starting classes about three weeks sooner than most others.
“Year-round schooling gives parents in Edmonton Catholic Schools another choice for their children’s education and reduces the concern of learning loss over a longer summer break,” according to the Catholic district’s website.
In the public system, Donnan school and Vimy Ridge Academy run on a modified calendar that gives students a week off in October and two weeks in spring. Both schools specialize in academic programming tailored for student athletes.
Vimy’s October break lets students catch up, study and rejuvenate; the longer spring break gives students extra travel time for school tours through Europe or with sports and dance programs, the school says on its website.
“Research supports a modified calendar as one strategy that increases student achievement and improves attendance,” according to Vimy’s website. “The slightly shorter summer break favours continuity of learning.”
M.E. LaZerte High School in north Edmonton will test a new modified calender this fall. Students there will return three days earlier in August to get a week off around Remembrance Day, right after a major diploma exam, said principal Kathy Muhlethaler.
“I brought forward a proposal to the superintendent to pilot this for the district and to provide him with data on things like course completion, absenteeism among students, absenteeism among teachers, to see if that (break) makes a difference,” Muhlethaler said Sunday.
She hopes to submit that data to Edmonton Public Schools no later than March 2012.
M.E. LaZerte is one of 16 schools across the province participating in the Alberta Education high school flexibility enhancement project. The four-year project began in 2009 to study alternative ways to deliver and organize high-school education so more students finish school with better student achievement.
Muhlethaler proposed the calendar adjustment after she surveyed M.E. LaZerte parents, students and teachers who were “very receptive” to the change.
“I think (students) would definitely benefit from having that time,” she said.
“We want to see whether or not it does make a difference. We’re excited about it.”
If trustees defeat Shipka’s motion, they could approve the traditional calendar this week, which would send students back to class on Thursday, Aug. 30, 2012.
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